China’s Foreign Direct Investments: Challenges of Due Diligence and Organizational Integration

This paper critically reviews Chinese companies’ foreign direct investment practices of recent years. Using case studies involving overseas Greenfield as well as merger and acquisition (M&A) of Chinese enterprises, we aim to draw lessons from these experiences. However, because of increasing importance of outbound acquisitions by Chinese companies, this paper focuses on Chinese M&A activities. After presenting the theoretical discussions of post-acquisition organizational integration, this paper identifies factors that have contributed to less than expected performances of Chinese foreign investments. Three main factors are identified as the plausible causes of the less than satisfactory outcomes: inadequate due diligence, not considering political and country risks, and cultural differences. In all cases, inexperience of Chinese enterprises in foreign direct investment, either in Greenfield form or M&A, has attributed to the problems. Therefore, summing the experiences of the Chinese enterprises that have foreign direct investment is essential for those Chinese investors that intend to invest overseas. Conduct of meaningful, in-depth due diligence before serious negotiations for investment or acquisition, inclusion of risk premium for political risk in cash flow analysis, and early post-merger integration planning are essential for avoidances of bitter outcomes many Chinese investors experienced overseas.