Although China is experiencing a transition from a relation-based society to a rule-based society, relationships among acquaintances still play an important role in resource allocation, such as the allocation of policy resources. This is particularly true in rural China, where targeted poverty alleviation is prevalent and a relation-based social structure still dominates. However, it is still unknown how relationships affect the livelihood strategy of households in rural China and how poverty alleviation policies plays a role between them. Therefore, this paper embeds poverty alleviation into the relation-based society and explores how households respond to the policy in this specific context. Using grounded theory research method and the sustainable livelihoods approach (SLA) framework, this paper contains in-depth interviews and field observations from three poverty-stricken villages in Northeast China. The results show that relationships have a significant impact on the households’ livelihood strategy. In other words, the households’ livelihood strategy is embedded in the relation-based society. The types of relationships induce households to choose maintained or developmental type livelihood strategies, while relationships influence how the poverty alleviation policies affect the livelihood strategy. This study is not only an extension of the SLA in the research context, but also provides a significant perspective for enriching the long-term mechanism of targeted poverty alleviation by building a theoretical model of the relationships between a relation-based society, targeted poverty alleviation and the livelihood strategies of households.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to unpack the black box of post-merger and acquisition (M&A) integration of reverse M&A by Chinese multinational enterprises (MNEs).Design/methodology/approach: This research adopts multiple cases of Chinese reverse M&A. Data are collected using the approaches of in-depth interviews, storytelling and narratives.Findings: This research identifies various antecedents underlying Chinese post-M&A integration, such as asymmetries in resources, capabilities, vision and status between Chinese MNEs and acquired firms. The post-M&A integration process of Chinese reverse M&A consists of a top-down effortless integration initiated by Chinese MNEs with both benefits and problems, and a bottom-up reverse integration conducted by acquired firms.Originality/value: By linking the pre-M&A phase and the post-M&A phase, this research builds a new model of post-M&A integration of Chinese reverse M&A from an indigenous Wu Wei paradigm. The new model counterpoises extant literature, shifting from the task and efficiency-focussed view to the people and harmony-focussed view.

While achieving great benefits, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has triggered potential problems between the transnational projects and local communities in the participant countries. However, there is still a knowledge gap on how corporate social responsibility (CSR) is adopted, and how CSR affects the local community. Based on a context of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), this research exploits a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to fill the gap. It finds that the CSR activities in the CPEC project are initiated by the long-term CSR initiative. Organized by the professional CSR foundation in an autonomous environment, the panoramic CSR activities are governed in a discretionary way and focus exclusively on the sustainability of the local community. Education, health-care, environment, and employment improve greatly after the implementation of the CPEC project. Theoretically, this research not only provides new insights into CSR research by taking an under-studied context of CPEC into study, but also proposes a mechanism of how CSR leads to the sustainability of local community by building a CSR-sustainability framework.

Chinese policymakers have witnessed great efforts in building indigenous innovation-led economy as well as a deep interest in promoting outward strategic mergers and acquisitions (M&As) as a major approach to acquire advanced technological know-how. Although debates take place regarding whether the governmental promotion of strategic M&As has an impact on the particular responsiveness of Chinese enterprises in terms of innovation activities, most studies use input or output additionality approaches that directly measure either the additional investment in innovation or the innovation output in the form of commercial benefits. The adoption of these approaches has led to inconclusive results. In this article, we assess the relationship between the governmental promotion and enterprises’ responses using a behavioural additionality approach. The findings show that China’s outward strategic M&A policy is likely to increase enterprises’ willingness to venture abroad, extend their international innovation networks, change their focus on innovation and, last but not least, enhance the learning capacity of Chinese government. We conclude that outward strategic M&As is an avenue to achieve the innovation-led economy in China.