Going Public and Going Global: Chinese Internet Companies and Global Finance Networks

Abstract

This paper examines an often-overlooked yet significant dimension in the globalisation of Chinese internet companies and their tight relationships with global financial institutions and networks. Since the early 2000s, waves of Chinese internet companies have gone public. What this means is that internet companies in China are increasingly relying on and competing in the global capital market to fund their rampant expansion. This paper analyses the role of finance institutions and networks in the globalisation of nine Chinese internet companies from three vantage points; firstly, these companies’ use of investment banks as underwriters for IPOs; secondly, their carefully designed ownership structures, including offshore holdings and Variable Interest Entities (VIE) structure; and lastly the ascending power of financial institutions in the ownership and management of these internet companies. By examining the role finance networks and institutions played in the globalisation of Chinese internet companies, this paper unveils the capitalist logic and shifting power relations at play in the political economy of the Chinese internet