Adapting to coercive forces: How foreign companies respond to China's data protection regulations

China’s recent data protection regulations – the Cybersecurity Law, Data Security Law, and Personal Information Protection Law – establish a comprehensive framework for data governance that also encompasses foreign companies operating within or conducting business with China. This study empirically examines how foreign companies perceive and respond to these stringent regulations. Using coercive isomorphism as a theoretical framework and semi-structured interviews as a research methodology, this empirical work analyzes foreign companies’ interpretations of these regulations and their compliance strategies, including data localization, dual IT infrastructures, and administrative restructuring. Our findings show that while these strategies help achieve regulatory compliance, they introduce operational complexity, complicating the balance between local compliance and global cohesion. This work contributes to institutional theory by demonstrating how coercive pressure shapes organizational structures and operational strategies in multinational companies.