The Cultural Challenge of Chinese International Companies Exporting to the Malaysian Market Under the Belt and Road Initiative

Abstract

Since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed in 2013, it has been a contemporary research topic for scholars from different countries. The Belt and Road Initiative is a new way for China to put more effort into reforming the economy. The experiment offers China a new way of thinking about development. It is also a sustainable way of promoting global co-development. The paper focused on Malaysia within the ASEAN countries and it will influence the process of economic development in Asia and even globally, especially the cultural challenges impact Malaysia's export volume, with a focus on Chinese international trade enterprises. Therefore, studying the factor of cultural challenge affecting economic and trade activities between China and Malaysia has a positive impact on the development of trade in the Belt and Road Initiative. This research seeks to reconfirm whether the culture has an impact on the export volume of Chinese international trading firms. The study employed the stratified sampling method to select senior managers, middle managers and sales team leader responsible for export business in import and export trading companies in Guangdong Province as respondents. In this research, questionnaires were collected using the platform ‘Question Star’. The data was collected from these practitioners with extensive experience in importing and exporting. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 26 software after the questionnaire was completed. Based on the results of the analyses, this study concludes that the Malaysian culture showed an impact on the export volume of Chinese trading firms. The export volume of Chinese companies is positively affected if the culture changes in a trade-friendly way. Ultimately, the study suggests that responding to cultural challenges gently not only promotes export trade but also reduces conflict.