Motives of Chinese foreign direct investment in Africa: With regulation effects of institutional quality.

This article analyzes the motives of Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa and the impact of the institutional quality of the host country for the period between 2003 and 2022 from both static and dynamic perspectives by using the OLS, PPML, and GMM methods. The results show that: China...

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Main Authors: Lilin Yuan, Peng Ji
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2025-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0326970
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author Lilin Yuan
Peng Ji
author_facet Lilin Yuan
Peng Ji
author_sort Lilin Yuan
collection DOAJ
description This article analyzes the motives of Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa and the impact of the institutional quality of the host country for the period between 2003 and 2022 from both static and dynamic perspectives by using the OLS, PPML, and GMM methods. The results show that: China has obvious market-, and efficiency-seeking motives, but weak resource- and strategic asset-seeking motives. There is a tipping point for market- and efficiency-seeking motives. Good institutional quality of the host country (region) facilitates FDI expansion. Investment inertia and factor endowments affect long-term FDI. We also examine the moderating effects of institutional quality and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and found that: the host country's (region's) institutional environment optimization makes market size more attractive and labor costs less attractive. The BRI itself has no obvious influence on Chinese investment in Africa, while the impact of market size and labor costs became more significant after 2013. Hence, when selecting investment locations, Chinese enterprises should prioritize the host country's (region's) market size, labor costs, and institutional quality. Additionally, they should utilize the moderating effect of institutional quality to mitigate the disadvantages associated with higher labor costs.
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spelling doaj-art-298ccf7e4a3e4685a7e8ab2f2eff59aa2025-08-20T03:29:04ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032025-01-01206e032697010.1371/journal.pone.0326970Motives of Chinese foreign direct investment in Africa: With regulation effects of institutional quality.Lilin YuanPeng JiThis article analyzes the motives of Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa and the impact of the institutional quality of the host country for the period between 2003 and 2022 from both static and dynamic perspectives by using the OLS, PPML, and GMM methods. The results show that: China has obvious market-, and efficiency-seeking motives, but weak resource- and strategic asset-seeking motives. There is a tipping point for market- and efficiency-seeking motives. Good institutional quality of the host country (region) facilitates FDI expansion. Investment inertia and factor endowments affect long-term FDI. We also examine the moderating effects of institutional quality and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and found that: the host country's (region's) institutional environment optimization makes market size more attractive and labor costs less attractive. The BRI itself has no obvious influence on Chinese investment in Africa, while the impact of market size and labor costs became more significant after 2013. Hence, when selecting investment locations, Chinese enterprises should prioritize the host country's (region's) market size, labor costs, and institutional quality. Additionally, they should utilize the moderating effect of institutional quality to mitigate the disadvantages associated with higher labor costs.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0326970
spellingShingle Lilin Yuan
Peng Ji
Motives of Chinese foreign direct investment in Africa: With regulation effects of institutional quality.
PLoS ONE
title Motives of Chinese foreign direct investment in Africa: With regulation effects of institutional quality.
title_full Motives of Chinese foreign direct investment in Africa: With regulation effects of institutional quality.
title_fullStr Motives of Chinese foreign direct investment in Africa: With regulation effects of institutional quality.
title_full_unstemmed Motives of Chinese foreign direct investment in Africa: With regulation effects of institutional quality.
title_short Motives of Chinese foreign direct investment in Africa: With regulation effects of institutional quality.
title_sort motives of chinese foreign direct investment in africa with regulation effects of institutional quality
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0326970
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AT pengji motivesofchineseforeigndirectinvestmentinafricawithregulationeffectsofinstitutionalquality