Embeddedness Beyond Borders: Examining the Autonomy of Chinese NGOs in Their Global Endeavours

The internationalisation of Chinese non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) is an emerging phenomenon. As new international development actors, how independent are Chinese NGOs from the Chinese state? Based on interviews with eighteen Chinese NGOs and an analysis of secondary sources, the study finds that the internationalisation of Chinese NGOs is variegated rather than solely state-led. The state is not closely involved in much of the internationalisation processes of a majority of Chinese NGOs. However, all Chinese NGOs with overseas operations avoid overstepping a political boundary that is tacitly understood by both NGOs and the state. To explain the duality of both uniformity and diversity among Chinese NGOs, this study develops an embeddedness framework that disaggregates state influences into a primary layer of systemic regulatory guidance that affects all Chinese NGOs, and a secondary layer of influence over NGOs’ operations (initiation, financing, and implementation), within which the varying levels of governmental influence upon different NGOs lie.