• International Area Studies Review
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.290-311
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• 2010

This study aimed at exploring the primary motivations in the behavior of MNCs' setting up R&D Labs in China, four main subjective motivations were founded. R&D Labs consisted of the following four types: local market support Labs, local technology support Labs, global technology center, and internationally interdependent Labs.he choices of the R&D Lab type features are different because of the various R&D investment motivations. Provided that MNCs' investment motivations in China are in order to obtain Chinese markets and customers, local market support Labs are supposed to be chosen so as to support Chinese markets; provided that investment motivations are in order to gain talents and science and technology resources, global technology centers are supposed to be used to achieve the highest synergy result; provided that investment motivations win an absolute competitive advantage in China, local market support Labs are extremely necessary in preoccupying markets; last but not the least, provided that investment motivations are environmental owing to their instability, local technology support Labs are a good choice for their relatively low R&D expenses.