Globalization, international coalitions, and domestic reform

This article considers the impact of China's insertion into the global political economy on the nature of political power in China. It argues that for most of the period of the transition from socialism, state leaders attempted to protect domestic interests where possible from the perceived detrimental impacts of globalization. However, China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) marked a key shift in this strategy. Through the creation of an international coalition for reform, key state leaders used WTO entry as a tool to enforce change on reluctant domestic constituents, rather than the earlier strategy of protecting them from competition and change. While domestic reform efforts have been responsible for many of the changes to the Chinese regime, external actors and interests have also played an important role in altering the fundamentals of politics in the People's Republic of China, and in particular, changing the raison d'tre of Communist Party rule

The soft notion of China's 'soft power'

· Although debates over Chinese soft power have increased in recent years, there is no shared definition of what ‘soft power’ actually means. The definition seems to change depending on what the observer wants to argue. · External analyses of soft power often include a focus on economic relations and other material (hard) sources of power and influence. · Many Chinese analyses of soft power focus on the promotion of a preferred (positive) understanding of China’s interests and identities overseas. · Unpacking broad and inclusive definitions of soft power allows for the identification of different types and sources of power including national image promotion, normative power promotion and ‘imagined power’. · China’s emergence as an alternative economic partner seems to be the major source of attraction for other developing states, though it remains difficult to separate hard material factors from softer attraction to values and world-views

The end of the world as we know it? Li Minqi, China and the death of capitalism

Li Minqi, a professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Utah, has produced a new interpretation of China, The Rise of China and the Demise of the Capitalist World Economy (New York: Monthly Review Press, 2008) that deserves critical attention. In this review article, I acknowledge Li’s contributions and take up the implicit challenge of debating Marxism and China’s potential future(s) with him

Understanding China's regional rise: interpretations, identities and implications

The literature on China's regional rise reveals divergent understandings of why China changed its regional strategy and when such a transformation occurred. There are also different understandings of the extent of China's power in the region—or more often, the extent to which US power in East Asia is already challenged by China's regional rise. Nevertheless, there is a consensus of sorts over how Chinese policy has changed with an emphasis on a combination of proactive diplomatic initiatives and ever increasing economic interactions. After providing a brief overview of the existing literature, the main part of this article considers the role of China's 'soft power' in reconfiguring power relationships in East Asia. It suggests that while the US might have lost some of its ideational appeal, it is through working within existing frameworks and 'norms' (rather than establishing new revisionist alternatives) that China has had most success in assuaging fears of the consequences of its rise. However, the way in which others conceive of China's rise and Chinese power (and subsequently act) does provide a form of 'non-hard' power that might help China's leaders attain their regional objectives particularly in light of the continuing global economic crisis

Government-industry relations in China : a review of the art of the state

For those who have studied the political economy of China since the onset of urban-industrial reform in the 1980s, the state looks considerably less powerful today than it once was. Market mechanisms and state regulation have been brought in to replace direct control and planning, whilst the importance of state ownership has diminished through the effective privatisation of many State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and the emergence of new private economic sectors and actors. Nevertheless, this does not mean that the state has withdrawn from economic activity. On the contrary, the state is alive and well and exercising considerable control over the nature of economic activity, albeit in different less direct ways than before

Foreign direct investment in the People’s Republic of China : preferences, policies and performance

In establishing an investment policy in post-Mao China, policy was designed to gain the benefits of foreign direct investment (capital inflow, job creation, export growth, and the upgrading of technology and skills) without suffering any of the perceived negative consequences. As a result policy makers have attempted to segregate the investment regime, restricting or prohibiting investment where domestic Chinese producers might be vulnerable to international competition, whilst encouraging investment to produce exports and where there is little or no domestic capacity. In the process, considerable autonomy over investment policy has been devolved to local governments, which in turn have been heavily influenced by the interests of foreign investors in shaping local investment strategies. From the mid-1990s, the policy of shielding domestic producers from competition was challenged from both external actors seeking the creation of a level playing field, and internal actors who questioned the logic of the status quo. But whilst there has been considerable liberalisation, including the extension of forms of investment and ownership not least as a result of Chinas WTO entry criteria conceptions of social stability, the potential impact of investment on such social stability, still remain crucial determinants of investment policy

The political economy of development in China : political agendas and economic realities

China's fourth generation of leaders have re-focused the political agenda away from purely growth considerations to broadly defined developmental issues - primarily driven by concerns about the political implications of growing inequality. However, Shaun Breslin suggests that central leaders may not have the agency to direct economic activity in a way that will allow developmental promises to be achieved

Beyond bilateralism: rethinking the study of China's international relations

This paper attempts to provide a new framework of analysis for understanding China’s international relations. It argues that “traditional” conceptions of international relations, based on “statist” and “realist” methodology, do not capture the dynamics of China’s international relations in an era of globalisation. Rather, we need to consider the analytical tools of international political economy as a means of breaking down the barriers between the domestic and the international, and between politics and economics. At the same time as enriching the study of China, such an approach can also enrich the discipline of international political economy, by breaking away from the OECD-centric nature of much research in the field