Tales of rivals: Inter-Chinese Attacks in International Competition

Although Chinese firms are widely perceived as cooperative, recent practice shows that in many cases Chinese firms engage in fierce competition with one another by employing a myriad of legitimate and illegitimate tactics. These attacks take place domestically but are even more intense in international markets. We outline the main forms of these attacks that range from traditional to illegal, but the most intriguing form is cooperation avoidance. We also observe that the attacks are often characterized with excessive rivalry which generates negative impacts for multiple constituents (such as other Chinese firms, non-Chinese firms, and host countries) beside the focal firms. We conclude by discussing implications for policy makers and executives.