Media and analysts have pointed out that – even if some of Trump’s aggressive campaign rhetoric towards China was to be implemented –consequences would be rather limited. For example, threats to label the country a currency manipulator bear almost no concrete legal implications. Furthermore, Trump’s call with President Xi Jinping in February 2017, in which he expressed that he would honor the “One China Policy”, is a first step toward stabilizing the foundation of US-China relations. Nevertheless, Trump’s mixed messages on China could be enough to cause market uncertainty and thus further undermine an already negative image some Chinese investors are grappling with abroad. This is especially significant since Chinese outbound M&A activities are often cast in an unfavourable light in the media.

Aggressive deal-making and national security concerns continue to dominate as key themes around M&A in media coverage. Just 14 percent of all media coverage on the deals in the study highlighted any positive aspects. As such, safeguarding corporate reputation should become a standard component of the boardroom agenda of Chinese companies and not only a crisis management tool for responding to the reputational risks companies could face as a result of an open public trade spat between China and the US or unpredictable and targeted confrontation from the new American president.