A STUDY ON THE CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION COOPERATION BETWEEN CHINA AND SOUTHEAST ASIAN COUNTRIES UNDER THE BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE

With the continuous expansion of China’s outward direct investment in countries along the «Maritime Silk Road», the external environment faced by China’s outward direct investment has become increasingly complex. The impact of corruption and government quality has become more prominent. From 2014 to 2019, the corruption index and institutional distance had a significant impact on China’s outward direct investment in the ten ASEAN countries along the Maritime Silk Road and the quality of their governments. The complex situation presented by the cases of the ten ASEAN countries shows that it is difficult to fully analyze the relationship between government quality and direct investment by a single variable such as a corruption index or an institutional distance. It is necessary to introduce a comprehensive analy-sis of multiple factors, such as cultural distance, political stability, and bilateral rela-tions. In view of this, China should strengthen the «Maritime Silk Road» construction corruption risk assessment, create a risk control mechanism and provide more re-gional public products that contribute to sustainable economic development and trade cooperation between countries along the «Maritime Silk Road».

Does China’s Outward Direct Investment Improve the Institutional Quality of the Belt and Road Countries?

This article investigates the effects of China’s outward direct investment (ODI) on the institutional quality of the Belt and Road (B&R) countries. Based on a panel data set of 63 B&R countries during the period 2003 to 2016, we find that China’s ODI improves the institutional quality of B&R countries not only in the short run but also in the long run. Further, although China’s ODI exerts no differential impacts on host country institutional dimensions of “control of corruption,” “government effectiveness,” and “political stability” in countries with different natural resource endowments, it improves their institutional dimensions of “regulatory quality” and “rule of law,” implying that China’s ODI may help the host B&R countries minimize the “resource curse”. As one of the most important strategies for China’s opening-up development in the current era, the B&R initiative serves as means to promote sustainable development of B&R countries. The article therefore contributes to existing scholarship on the institutional effects of China’s ODI and sheds light on the mechanisms that drive sustainable development.