Paper short abstract:

Our comparative case study paper examines two Chinese-invested industrial parks in Indonesia and Malaysia to understand how BRI-facilitated Chinese investments bring specific domestic models of development that are then adapted to the local context.

Paper long abstract:

Chinese-led industrial parks provide a clear example of China's state-facilitated development. Our paper discusses this type of Chinese infrastructure and analyses its model in relation to the Chinese experience domestically and overseas. By examining the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (Central Sulawesi, Indonesia) and the Malaysia China Kuantan Industrial Park (Pahang, Malaysia), we argue that through the BRI, China is exporting its successful domestic models of infrastructure development, which are then localized by host country dynamics and contestations. While the Chinese firms bring about the intended efficiencies of vastly integrated industrial parks through their linkages, key aspects and goals of the parks are also shaped by host country actors. In other words, industrial parks are products of the interaction between Chinese and host country goals, norms, and mobilizations. As both parks were located in relatively undeveloped areas, Chinese firms brought in new technologies and expanded their presence in both countries, attaining foreign investment incentives, cheap labor, and new competitive edge. Firms also carried a "developmental" model that prioritises economic development over environmental and social protection, leading to ecological degradation, limited labor mobility, and transformation of the local landscapes. Overall, our analysis shows how the state-led model of Chinese industrial parks exported through the BRI is localized in each country by being combined with local norms, and at times through local contestations.