Strait Chinese Business Ventures into China

An analysis of the multilayered legacies of ethnic Chinese business ventures is a more appropriate way to come to an understanding of how ethnic Chinese businesses perceive of and establish themselves in China. The chapter first briefly describes the data sets and research methodologies. Then follows a discussion of the ways in which ethnic Chinese entrepreneurship is conceptualized in diverse disciplines and in anthropology in particular. Next, a number of cases is presented featuring Indonesian, Malaysian, and Singaporean businesspeople of Chinese descent currently involving themselves with China and the consequences of such an involvement for their (international) business strategies. Subsequently, these cases are analyzed in a comparative framework against the background of the diverging legacies of past involvement with China of both the ethnic Chinese communities and the nation-states they are residing in. Finally, the chapter discusses the theoretical implications of the findings and makes suggestions for future research.