What Determines the Internationalization of Chinese Enterprises in Cultural and Creative Industry? : A Case Study of ByteDance

Abstract: Chinese firms in the cultural and creative industry (CCI) are substantially entering the global business landscape. But research on the motivation of Chinese enterprises’ internationalization mostly remains in the traditional industries (e.g., manufacturing and mining). Therefore, this thesis aims to explore the determinants of the internationalization of firms in China’s CCI. The empirical analysis is based on a qualitative case study of ByteDance (China’s CCI “national champion” firm and TikTok’s parent firm) via interviews and second-hand data. Our findings suggest that firm-specific advantage is an essential driver for Chinese firms in CCI to engage in internationalization. Our findings also reveal that top managers’ national sentiment promotes the internationalization of CCI enterprises in China in order to enhance cultural exports, and government encouragement of cultural exports motivates thesefirms to internationalize. However, we identify that from the host-government perspective, cultural exports can turn into a liability, which creates barriers to and hinders Chinese CCI firms’ internationalization. Our findings provide fresh insights into the determinants of the internationalization of firms in China’s CCI, which contribute to the literature on internationalization, particularly on emerging-market firms’ internationalization.