Highlights from a workshop on Chinese investment in Europe

A workshop called The Politics of Hosting Chinese Investment in Europe was held at the University of msterdam on 29-30 June. Kristina Johnson and Sophie Meunier (Princeton) cited the 2011 Pew Global Attitudes survey that shows that more respondents in the major European countries, except Poland, believe that China’s economic growth is good for their country than in previous years. This is surprising because of the negative publicity Chinese investments in Europe have been getting.

Brian Burgoon (Amsterdam) and Damian Raess (Geneva) reported that Chinese FDI has not favoured more those European markets that are less regulated than other FDI. They also, based on a separate study, asserted that vulnerable (lower-paid, less-educated etc) workers were more likely to view Chinese FDI positively, but the method of this study was challenged by other participants.