Chinese Multinational Companies in Global R&D and Innovation Rankings: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Internationalisation of Chinese firms is a salient feature of the contemporary world economy. They evolve from local producers to multinational companies, strengthening their presence in a variety of economies ¿ from neighbouring developing countries to sophisticated western markets. Their competitive advantage is often found in access to low costs labour, and in many cases, state support. Innovation is becoming an important variable of the international business strategies of emerging Chinese multinationals. The question is whether innovation will be a new competitive advantage of emerging Chinese multinationals. While this is a very relevant subject, due to its novelty, it is not yet sufficiently addressed. Therefore the aim of this paper is to contribute to the nascent literature stream on this topic. We examine performance of Chinese companies in the global R&D and innovation rankings, both quantitatively and qualitatively. On the basis of our findings, we provide conclusions and managerial implications.