A Bruising Week For China’s Multinationals

It has been a bruising week in the court of public opinion for Chinese companies working overseas. First anti-corruption campaigner Transparency International said that Chinese multinationals, along with their Indian counterparts, were most likely among companies from 28 countries involved in foreign direct investment to offer bribes to win business. Now the human-rights group, Human Rights Watch has accused China’s four copper miners operating in Zambia, all subsidiaries of the state-owned China Non-Ferrous Metals Mining Corp., of flouting local and international labor and safety standards. While acknowledging that there had been some improvement, Human Rights Watch’s most pointed comment was that China’s copper miners in Zambia treat their workers just as they do at home.