Integrating Geoeconomics into the GPN Framework: The Internationalization of Chinese EV Battery Firms amid China–EU Strategic Interaction

Over the last two decades, strategic emerging global production networks (GPNs) have reshaped advanced manufacturing, challenging the dominance of developed economies. Yet existing GPN theories pay limited attention to the geoeconomic logics driving these transformations. This article develops a conceptual–analytical framework that integrates geoeconomics into GPN analysis, viewing states as geoeconomically competing and strategically selective actors and firms as active agents navigating these dynamics. Focusing on the electric vehicle battery industry, it examines how leading Chinese firms expand into Europe amid the strategic interaction between Chinese and EU agendas, each deploying distinct geoeconomic instruments. The analysis shows how corporate competitive imperatives (cost-capability optimization, market access, and financial discipline) are mediated by geopolitical and regulatory pressures, prompting varied firm coping strategies. The study advances understanding of globalization under hybrid state–firm logics and highlights the rise of emerging GPNs led by non-Western firms in an era of intensified geoeconomic competition.