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Mapping the landscape of China’s outward foreign direct investment research: insights from a bibliometric overview
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  • Review Article
  • Open access
  • Published: 29 January 2026

Mapping the landscape of China’s outward foreign direct investment research: insights from a bibliometric overview

  • Bo Yang1,
  • Md Jahid Ebn Jalal  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2704-33991,2,
  • Md Abdur Rouf Sarkar  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5926-38631,2,3,
  • Mohammad Jahangir Alam  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3412-94382,4,
  • Ismat Ara Begum5 &
  • …
  • Shijun Ding4 

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications , Article number:  (2026) Cite this article

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We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.

Subjects

  • Economics

Abstract

China’s outward foreign direct investment has become a transformative force in global economic interactions, necessitating a methodical assessment of how this phenomenon has been studied. To address this, we conduct a bibliometric analysis of 1,717 peer-reviewed articles indexed in Scopus and Web of Science from 1987 to 2023, applying performance and science-mapping techniques. The study reveals significant growth in scholarly interest, particularly following China’s “Going Global Strategy” and the “Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).” It identifies eight thematic dimensions—strategic business planning, political diplomacy, economic frameworks, legal and regulatory compliance, societal contexts, technological innovation, environmental sustainability, and policy development—and traces their evolution across three phases, observing a critical shift towards sustainability and global responsibility in recent discourse. The analysis also highlights China’s central role in an expanding international research network, with strong collaborations across both developed and emerging economies. Building on these insights, the study proposes five key areas for future research: optimizing China’s industrial structure, deepening cultural influences on investment facilitation, assessing socioeconomic implications, exploring environmental impacts beyond climate change, and developing strategies to address challenges in untapped regions and sectors. Although limited by reliance on English-language publications and two databases, this study offers pathways for researchers to deepen understanding and inform policy in this dynamic field.

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Data availability

The data supporting the findings of this study are available on ResearchGate. Data can be accessed via the following https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.22765.86244, or directly through the link: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/399832937_Replication_Data_for_Mapping_the_Landscape_of_China’s_Outward_Foreign_Direct_Investment_Research_Insights_from_a_Bibliometric_Overview.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the National Social Science Fund of China (Grant- 25BJL074) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, China (Grant- 2722021EG001). Additionally, the authors are grateful to the Department of Agribusiness and Marketing, Bangladesh Agricultural University, for providing the necessary facilities during the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economics, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan, 430073, China

    Bo Yang, Md Jahid Ebn Jalal & Md Abdur Rouf Sarkar

  2. Department of Agribusiness and Marketing, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, 2202, Bangladesh

    Md Jahid Ebn Jalal, Md Abdur Rouf Sarkar & Mohammad Jahangir Alam

  3. Agricultural Economics Division, Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, Gazipur, 1701, Bangladesh

    Md Abdur Rouf Sarkar

  4. School of Business Administration, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan, 430073, China

    Mohammad Jahangir Alam & Shijun Ding

  5. Department of Agricultural Economics, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, 2202, Bangladesh

    Ismat Ara Begum

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Contributions

Bo Yang: Supervision, conceptualization, validation, writing—review & editing; Md Jahid Ebn Jalal: Conceptualization, methodology, data curation, formal analysis, writing-original draft, writing—review & editing; Md Abdur Rouf Sarkar: Conceptualization, data curation, writing—review & editing; Ismat Ara Begum: Writing—review & editing; Shijun Ding: Funding acquisition, project administration, supervision, validation; Mohammad Jahangir Alam: Funding acquisition, project administration, supervision, validation, writing—review & editing.

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Correspondence to Md Jahid Ebn Jalal.

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Ethical approval was not required for this study, as it did not involve any research with human participants or animals conducted by any of the authors.

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Yang, B., Ebn Jalal, M.J., Sarkar, M.A.R. et al. Mapping the landscape of China’s outward foreign direct investment research: insights from a bibliometric overview. Humanit Soc Sci Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-06559-8

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  • Received: 10 October 2023

  • Accepted: 20 January 2026

  • Published: 29 January 2026

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-06559-8

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