Author: Katy N. Lam, Jean-Nicolas Bach.

Focusing on Chinese construction SOEs in Ghana, this article shows that the observable differences in economic behavior and development levels of these firms are not primarily played out in their relationship to the Chinese state. The CPEs that deliver the best results in terms of economic development and responsible social behavior are not the largest public enterprises in China, but rather provincial CPS or less strategic CPE groups. But this degree of autonomy enjoyed by companies becomes a determining factor only when it is correlated with the time spent in the host country, an indispensable source of adaptation to the local context - a fact often neglected in the analysis of the relations China-Africa. EPCs in Ghana have been progressively transformed into local enterprises, enjoying a high degree of independence under the guidance of their branch managers., Interrogating directly the Chinese Construction State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in Ghana, this paper that that the relationship with the Chinese state is not the main factor that differentiates SOEs business behavior and development. The best-performed SOEs in China, SOEs provincial goal or less central SOE groups. The level of autonomy becomes a significant factor when it is correlated with time when it is adapted to the local context, and is largely ignored in the China-Africa analysis. With time the SOEs in Ghana become a highly independent and a local enterprise, headed by their entrepreneurial subsidiary directors.