"Going global, staying local: the Internationalization of Haining Leather City"

This research thesis explores the evolution of Chinese industrial clusters by examining the case study of China Leather City in Haining, a major industrial district specializing in leather production, located in Zhejiang, one of China’s wealthiest provinces, particularly known for its distinctive development model. The analysis focuses in particular on the dynamics that characterize the expansion of local enterprises into international markets, examining how the interaction between local and national policies, informal institutions, and the entrepreneurial spirit of local communities has influenced the process of cluster formation and evolution, in line with the one village, one product principle. In addition, the research combines a theoretical approach, based on the literature review and academic studies on industrial clusters, globalization, and the process of business internationalization, with an empirical analysis developed through field research. The results obtained indicate that although this cluster has enjoyed considerable success, starting from the country’s era of reform and opening-up, over time it has had to reorganize its production activities by integrating into global value chains through a complex process of internationalization. At present, moreover, local enterprises are facing new challenges related on one hand to the country’s broader effort to upgrade, with the transition to higher value-added production, and, on the other hand, to the increasing competition resulting from participation in the global market. In this way, the research contributes to understanding the role of clusters in the development of an emerging economy as that of China, while at the same time highlighting the tensions between production localization and global integration.