Chinese investment in Central and Eastern Europe

The article studies the approach Chinese investors apply to industrial relations at the company level in Central and Eastern Europe. The takeover of a home appliances producer in Slovenia by a Chinese state-owned enterprise and the trajectory of company-level industrial relations are analysed. Adopting a political economy approach, we examine the role played by market-related factors (especially FDI motivation), institutional context, trade union power resources and the Chinese state as an investor. The study contributes in two ways. First, it shows the inadequacy of market-based explanations as host institutions and actors modify transfer outcomes, blurring the ideal types, such as the ‘latecomer’ model and its apparent CEE counterpart. Second, the strategic interests of Chinese SOEs may unwillingly empower local actors struggling to influence transfer outcomes.