The trajectory of Work and Organizational Psychology (WOP) in China has mirrored
the nation's remarkable economic ascent since 1978. With the world's second-largest

economy today, China's integration into the global market has spurred significant
interest in understanding Chinese WOP's nuances among practitioners and scholars.
This presentation will chronicle the evolution of WOP research in China, highlighting
the transition from an early phase with minimal interaction between Western and
Chinese scholars, to the surge in cross-cultural studies and publications in Western
journals influenced by China's academic expansion and the wave of scholars studying
abroad since the 1990s. Initially, research from China predominantly applied Western
theories, with limited consideration for local context or indigenous theory development.
Anne Tsui's (2004) seminal work distinguished context-embedded research from
context-specific indigenous research, underlining the importance of contextualization in
WOP studies. Post-2000, there has been a conscious shift toward an explicit theorization
of the Chinese context, including variables unique to China within research models.
However, these efforts still grappled with capturing the distinctiveness of the Chinese
milieu. Around 2010, a surge in Chinese indigenous theories emerged, reflected in
special issues of leading journals, marking a maturation in the field. With global shifts
and the normalization of Chinese data usage in recent years, there is a discernible trend
away from emphasizing Chinese exceptionalism in research. This talk will review this
historical progression and discuss the current state of Chinese WOP research,
considering the challenges and opportunities within this vibrant and evolving field.