Ph.D. Candidate
Ms CHEN Rui

With the rise of Chinese overseas economy, networks are considered as one of the most important factors of the success of Chinese business, although Asian financial crisis caused many reflections on them. In fact, Chinese business networks do not only including the firm-firm networks or personal networks. Chinese associations such as chambers of commerce, voluntary social institutions and hometown associations are also the forms of institutionalized networks, which seem to be essential for maintaining the regional or even global Chinese networks and thus become the base of the so-called Chinese business networks.

Many Chinese associations keep in touch with each other and even hold global assemblies from time to time especially after 1990s, showing their efforts to build and strengthen global networks. These associations function differently depending on their locations and then integrate together and thus help construct the Chinese business networks. Especially with the rise of China, such networks, which are supported by the central and local government of PRC as well as strengthened by Chinese economic development, play more and more important role in the global economy.

Accordingly, in this proposed study I seek to examine the particular functions of Chinese associations according to their locations in the global Chinese institutionalized networks. I would like to investigate the following hypotheses in this research:

H1: Chinese associations strengthen the Chinese networks through institutionalization.

H2: Such an institutionalized form of networks existing both regionally and globally enhances the globalization of Chinese networks, as well as the success of Chinese Overseas transnational business.

H3: Chinese associations function differently in the integral global networks according to their different locations.