Chinese Companies in Switzerland

In recent years, some of China’s leading firms have made headlines with their European expansion, by either opening new facilities or by acquiring or merging with significant enterprises in Europe. The goal of this paper is to contribute to the existing literature by examining Chinese enterprises expanding into Switzerland. The study also allows some conclusions for Chinese companies entering Central and Eastern Europe. We analyze via interviews the motivations of Chinese companies to expand into Switzerland as well as their behavior and the impediments in their internationalization process. Our findings show that Chinese companies fail to take advantage of certain benefits of western economies (such as open information and stable rule of law). To move forward efficiently, they should develop competence in dealing systematically with readily available market information, building professional networks that recognize a separation between business life and personal life, and managing their Chinese and foreign employees in the foreign cultural environment.