Chinese Foreign Direct Investment in Myanmar: Remarkable Trends and Multilayered Motivations

Following the national responsibility theory in the school of international society which argues that national interest drives a state’s foreign policy, this thesis first attempts to deconstruct China’s foreign direct investment (FDI) in Myanmar since 2004 by picking apart and manipulating financial data in order to determine the resulting trends and developments. It then analyzes how Myanmar’s abundant natural resources could help alleviate China’s rising energy demands and how Chinese FDI can enhance China’s political security, reduce energy costs, diversify its imports, and mitigate mineral shortages. The United States’ marked presence in the region due to a transformation in foreign policy in the Obama administration, as well as the 2011 dissolution of military law in Myanmar, means that the motivation for Chinese FDI no longer solely revolves around the acquisition of natural resources and the previous lack of international competitors in the country. Nevertheless, I argue that China’s national economic interest will continue to serve as the primary incentive to invest billions of dollars into Myanmar, though political interest is beginning to factor more into China’s motivations.