Bamboo network
| Bamboo network | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Legend |
Bamboo network
Greater China region
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| Countries and territories |
 Singapore Malaysia Indonesia Philippines Thailand Vietnam
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| Languages and language families | Chinese, Malaysian, Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese, and many others |
| Major cities |
Singapore Kuala Lumpur Bangkok Jakarta Manila Ho Chi Minh City
|
The term "bamboo network", or the Chinese Commonwealth, is used to conceptualize connections between certain businesses operated by overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia. It links the overseas Chinese community of Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Singapore) with the economies of Greater China (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan). Overseas Chinese companies have a prominent role in the private sector of Southeast Asia, and are usually managed as family businesses with a centralized bureaucracy.
Chinese businesses in Southeast Asia are usually family owned and managed through a centralized bureaucracy. These firms are typically mid-sized corporations, rather than large conglomerates like those dominant in Japan. Trade and financing is guided by family ties and personal relationships are prioritized over formal relationships. This promotes commercial communication and a faster transfer of capital in a region where financial regulation and rule of law remain undeveloped. These relationships are based on the concept of guanxi, the Chinese term for the cultivation of personal relationships.
Much of the business activity of the bamboo network is centered in the major cities of the region, such as Jakarta, Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, and Manila.
The origins of the bamboo network can be traced to the 16th century, when Chinese migrants from southern China settled in Indonesia, Thailand, and other Southeast Asian countries. They founded at least one well-documented republic as a tributary state of Qing China — the Lanfang Republic that lasted from 1777 to 1884. Chinese populations in the region saw a rapid increase following the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War in 1949, which forced many refugees to emigrate outside of China. The bamboo network has been heavily influenced by Confucianism, a philosophy developed by Confucius in the 5th century BC that promotes filial piety and pragmatism.
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Wikipedia