Seminar: Navigating a Highly Protected Market: China’s Chery Automobile in Malaysia

MALAYSIA STUDIES PROGRAMME SEMINAR

About the Seminar

While the economies of Malaysia and China are becoming increasingly integrated through trading and investment linkages, this study targeted at one aspect of this relationship. By analyzing Chinese car maker Chery’s internationalisation strategy and localisation efforts in Malaysia, it is found that Chery has adapted its business strategy by forging a business alliance with domestic partners and government-backed companies to overcome national protectionist and institutional constraints in Malaysia. However, the little interaction between Chery with local suppliers and national research and development facilities has limited collective learning processes and production collaboration. Chery’s experience in Malaysia suggests that, while Chinese multinational companies have to be careful in making strategic decisions to relocate operations abroad, the Malaysian government will have to consider easing protectionist restrictions to encourage stronger foreign participation in the automotive sector. Such a policy change may be required for the Malaysian automobile industry, facing with rising international competition, to survive and grow beyond its own borders.

About the Speaker

Dr Zhang Miao is Research Fellow at Institute of China Studies, University of Malaya. She obtained her PhD. in Economics from University of Malaya in 2014. She has been studying China-Malaysia trade and investment, urban studies and institutional economics. Her research spectrum also extends to the fields of industrial policy and technology innovation. Her research has been published in such as Journal of Contemporary Asia, Habitat International, Cities, Journal of Asia Pacific Economy, International Journal of China Studies, Institutions and Economies and Asia Pacific Business Review. She has undertaken consultancies for international agencies, including United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Japan-ASEAN Center and Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA). Dr Zhang has frequently contributed commentaries to Financial Times, Sin Chew Daily and Oriental Daily.

Registration

For registration, please fill in this form and email to iseasevents2@iseas.edu.sg by 9 October 2017.

The event is finished.