ABSTRACT
Let me begin by asserting that the contribution of ethnically-based business networks and Confucian culture to the growth of Chinese capital in Southeast Asia has been over-rated. Chinese business development in Southeast Asia has depended primarily on the prevailing domestic conditions, particularly state policies pertaining to the economy and the avenues available to the Chinese to enable them to develop their enterprises. This has certainly been true of the Chinese in the Philippines whose fortunes have been dependent on the rise and decline of the local economy, as well as on the attitude and policies of various government administrations.
