Reflections on the Chinese State

Abstract

This article examines critically the application of the developmental state concept to China. A conjuncture of specific political, socio-economic and institutional processes, both internal and external, undermines the case for China as a developmental state. Against a back-drop of intensifying global economic competition, intense rivalry between local economic actors for markets, resources and foreign investment not only produces contradictory developmental outcomes but also undermines the political and administrative capacity for fundamental social and economic transformation. The Chinese state is best understood as polymorphous, assuming multiple, complex forms and behaviours across time and space, and defying reduction to a unitary actor. © Institute of Social Studies, 2006.