The determinants of Western Australia's foreign investment in China

Abstract

Despite the growing importance of Australia's direct investment in China few studies have been conducted, and these largely depend on secondary data. This study reports results from the analysis of the primary data from 39 Western Australian businesses that are either undertaking engagement or planning to invest in the Chinese marketplace. The findings indicate the drivers of market size, infrastructure, and business ethics were factors considered by decision makers when deciding to undertake foreign investment in China. From respondents comments it was detected gender, organisation size and networking have a potential to influence the connections between the drivers and the intensity of foreign investment. These observations provide the foundation for further investigations to elucidate features of managerial decision making for investment with Chinese firms.