State-Business Relations and Public-Public Partnerships: China’s State-owned Enterprises in Southeast Asia

Abstract

China’s hegemonic leader, Xi Jinping, had one core agenda, the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI), which was to be implemented primarily by employing his country’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Since 2013, BRI projects have featured extensively in Southeast Asia, a region where countries are led by strongmen leading economies featuring strong state intervention. As the presence of China’s SOEs in Southeast Asia grew, this led to major changes in the nature of state-business relations (SBRs). In this context, where structural power lies with the state, or in this case, the two states of China and the host nation, a fundamental query emerges: who governs in these SBRs? This article analyses this question with a focus on three core themes – China’s mounting presence in Southeast Asia through the BRI, the growing role of SOEs in these economies, and evolving SBRs.