Overseas via Direct Investment: Internationalization Strategy of Chinese Corporations in a Comparative Prism

China’s success in attracting the inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) has been well documented. Less known is the initial success of China’s “going out ” strategy, which encourages domestic enterprises to participate in international capital market and to directly invest overseas. This paper assesses the aggregate dynamics of China’s outward FDI and compares it with that of South Korea and Japan. The paper traces the strategic shift of Chinese overseas investment in a comparative prism and presents case studies of two Chinese multinationals, which are distinguished by their innovative strategies of internationalization in general and direct investment overseas in particular. The paper also discusses the strategic implications of emerging Chinese multinationals for their Western counterpart. Please send correspondence to