"Do not underestimate the impact of China and other emerging economies on trade and investment flows." So argues Professor of International Economics at Nyenrode Business University Haico Ebbers, among others, in his forthcoming book The rise of the New Economic Powers and the changing global landscape. His main message: we urgently need to learn to understand new players on the world stage because the choices made there have a major impact on the globalization process and the economy.

The main reason for this, according to Ebbers, is that countries like China, as well as other major players like India, Brazil, Indonesia, and Mexico, are rapidly developing. "Students, policy makers, and managers no longer live in an economic and political world dominated by the West," he explains. "Which is why we need to understand the impact of these countries on international trade, investment, and competition." Ebbers points especially to China's impact because China's economic growth and accelerated integration have been changing the global economy for four decades. "The rise of China is felt in almost every corner of the world. Therefore, there is an urgent need to pay attention to this when developing educational programs and conducting research."

Research

Ebbers' (academic) research on specifically the role of China in global investment and trade flows is extensive. He founded the Nyenrode Europe China Institute in 2006 with as its main research result the so-called China Structural Development Monitor: a qualitative study, based on a fixed panel of urban middle-class Chinese, that maps China's socio-political and economic development and the medium-term investment climate in China. He also has numerous publications to his name, including on the impact of Chinese economic development on the Dutch metalworking industry. Several years ago, he started a doctoral research project to better understand the challenges in the decision-making process in a Sino-Dutch strategic alliance. Ebbers conducted various research programs for internationally operating companies such as KLM-AF, MN-Services, and Cap-Gemini. Dutch ministries and NATO, for example, asked Ebbers to share his views on the impact of China's economic growth on geopolitics. "After all, it is clear that economic power will translate into geopolitical power in the future," Ebbers stated. 

Education

But Ebbers also advocates for more (executive) education in the field of China and other emerging economies, developing so-called Immersion Programs for students and companies. "These include programs in China for Dutch companies doing business there, but we also offer education to Chinese companies operating in Europe," he explains. "These study tours are effective 'immersion programs' for students. This is certainly true of the China programs. We see that an ethnocentric and often one-sided view does not help and that mental adjustment is needed. After having completed the program, participants know that working in China means learning, unlearning, and re-learning or, as one entrepreneur working in China put it nicely, ‘You can't change China, China changes you’."

Learn more about Haico Ebbers, his publications and his new book (coming out in November).