Date: Monday, October 23, 3:30 PM

Venue: LIB 1115 / Zoom:952 5242 3806; Passcode: 1023

Guest Speaker: Wendy Leutert,Assistant Professor, Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Indiana University

Abstract:

Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) involved in global infrastructure development are evolving from contractors to become operators, investors, and owners. Since the 1990s, Chinese SOEs have served primarily as contractors responsible for engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC). In the traditional and still dominant “EPC plus financing” approach, Chinese policy banks have supported SOEs’ overseas expansion with instruments including export buyers’ credits and concessional loans. Today, however, Chinese SOEs are diversifying their infrastructure business abroad using multiple project models: as EPC contractors with equity shares in project companies, as participants in public private partnerships such as Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) projects, and as owners in Build Operate Own (BOO) projects. As Chinese SOEs evolve from contractors to become longer-term stakeholders in host countries, they have greater incentives to engage local actors. In addition to changes in project models, Chinese SOEs are also partnering with a growing range of international actors, including humanitarian organizations, to develop infrastructure projects abroad.

Speaker’s Bio:

Wendy Leutert is Assistant Professor and the GLP-Ming Z. Mei Chair of Chinese Economics and Trade at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies and the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures. Her main research areas are political economy, comparative politics, and international relations, with a focus on China. Her work addresses Chinese state-owned enterprises, overseas investment, and international development. Her articles have been published in journals including Studies in Comparative and International Development, Business and Politics, World Development, New Political Economy, Pacific Affairs, and The China Quarterly. She has a Ph.D. in government from Cornell University, a M.A. in international relations from Tsinghua University, and a B.A. in political science and philosophy from Wellesley College.

This event is co-organized by the CSCC China and the Global South Cluster .