Cross-border investments are an established business practice of Chinese companies going global. Chinese outbound investors frequently engage in initiating joint ventures or full-scale acquisition transactions. More recently, projects under the Belt-and-Road Initiative have ushered in a greater diversity in investment patterns. As Chinese companies develop their investment strategies, they are experiencing a changing regulatory attitude towards foreign investment in the respective host countries. This course will combine basic principles of corporate finance with cross-border investment strategies of state-owned and privately-owned companies.
After assessing Chinese investment patterns in the European Union, Eastern Europe and the US, aspects of debt and equity finance will be explored. Business strategies will be translated into the customary instruments under mergers and acquisitions law. A special section will assess current forms of investment control as host countries enforce their policy concepts, building on both ex-ante and ex-post regulatory techniques. This will extend to investment strategies by Chinese state-owned companies and those considered as government-related due to special forms of sponsorship or finance.
Although the focus of this course is mostly on EU laws and those of (some) Member States, comparative references to US legislation (esp. investment control law) and international economic law (including long-term infrastructure projects) will be made frequently. Teaching will strongly emphasize case studies, using most recent information obtained from press releases of capital market and investment control authorities and the parties to the transactions.
