The article examines regional resilience in China using the case study of the Xiamen regional economy. The open political economy perspective posited builds on three strands; the structural dimensions related to underpinning drivers and the mobility of capital; the multiscalar nature of the institutions in which firms are embedded and the agency of firms and their cognitive capacities in the (re)constitution of reorganizing production networks. The data comprise in-depth interviews with 20 firms in a cross section of sectors to examine how firms are innovating to change their position in value chains and mode of integration with the global economy.