Embeddedness Under Fire: How Chinese Private Firms Navigate Conflict Risks in Northern Myanmar

Original

Embeddedness Under Fire: How Chinese Private Firms Navigate Conflict Risks in Northern Myanmar

Yaolong Xian

Abstract

As one of Myanmar’s largest sources of foreign investment, China has been exposed to the civil war that intensified after the 2021 coup. Drawing on a mixed embeddedness perspective and interview-based fieldwork, this article examines how Chinese private firms operate in Myanmar’s conflict-affected regions without formal state protection or legal guarantees. It argues that their resilience rests on embedding commercial activity within fragmented governance. Institutionally, firms align with non-state armed authorities, adapt across shifting jurisdictions, and benefit from protective norms tied to Chinese identity. Socially, they mobilize ethnic and kinship ties, intermediaries, and localized information networks. These mechanisms, though costly and imperfect, convert unstable environments into workable orders. The article contributes to Global China scholarship by foregrounding private enterprises as adaptive actors in conflict settings.