Title: Disconnecting European companies and countries? Case studies call for modulating worries about China's Digital Silk Road

Authors: Jean-Marc F. Blanchard; Bas Hooijmaaijers

Addresses: Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Centre for the Study of Multinational Corporations (USA), Palo Alto, California, USA ' Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Centre for the Study of Multinational Corporations (USA), Palo Alto, California, USA; KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

Abstract: China's Digital Silk Road (DSR) initiative has raised considerable anxieties in Europe about its potentially adverse implications for the global order, European digital norms and European companies. We focus on the DSR's possible negative ramifications for European firms. A comparative case study of Malaysia, Pakistan, Hungary, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) shows alarmist interpretations are unwarranted. European businesses are quite active in Malaysia and the UAE and somewhat active in Hungary, though the environment seems unfavourable in Pakistan and the situation in these countries differs for different companies. Our contribution goes beyond the empirical. We also present a framework, validated by our cases, which identifies various domestic and international political and economic factors that combine to influence the DSR's implementation, configuration, and implications for the competitive position of European firms. This framework generates a variety of recommendations European companies and governments can follow to ensure the former's continued competitiveness.

Keywords: Digital Silk Road; Belt and Road Initiative; information and communication technology; telecommunications; Hungary; Malaysia; Pakistan; United Arab Emirates; Huawei; Ericsson.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2024.138671

European Journal of International Management, 2024 Vol.23 No.2/3, pp.364 - 386

Received: 15 May 2021
Accepted: 23 Apr 2022
Published online: 23 May 2024 *

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