China's Market Reform Debate

Abstract

In the histories of capitalist genesis and development, including the capitalist logic of the Cold War and post-Cold War (and the threatened new Cold War) and of neoliberal globalization, the market integration and invigoration which has brought the economy of Communist China to global prominence is a remarkable story. Of intense scholarly interest are China's growth model, institutional and policy adaptations, and interactions with others in the geo-economic and geopolitical reordering of the world. Yet, despite the expanding literature in this field, comparative case studies which delve into the extensive historical and international, as well as intellectual and discursive, contexts are relatively rare. Isabella Weber's book How China Escaped Shock Therapy contributes to filling this gap.A quick background sketch of the familiar yet often neglected basics is useful here. The People's Republic of China (PRC) was founded upon, and fundamentally defined by, the victory of the Chinese Communist Revolution in 1949. Committed to both national and social liberations, the revolution achieved unity and independence for the country in terms of socioeconomic development, forging a self-aware sovereign people in the process. In constructing a socialist political economy, the new regime pursued a collective, egalitarian and participatory politics. The state mobilized resources to rapidly accumulate capital and labour, buttressed by a I would like to thank Andrew Fischer and his co-editors at Development and Change for their kind invitation and critical comments on an earlier draft of this paper, and the editorial office team for their copy-editing assistance. My appreciation goes to Isabella Weber for her original and stimulating contribution, and for all that we share in understanding China.

Amplified State Capitalism in China: Overproduction, Industrial Policy and Statist Controversies

“…By taking this issue seriously, this article presents a revisionist account of China's economic changes of the 1990s and beyond. It reveals that precisely at the peak of its market reforms during the late 1990s (Chun, 2023), China started to witness new patterns and growing signs of economic statism. Under conditions of persistent imbalance and chronic overproduction since the late 1990s, waves of Guojin Mintui and ever more ambitious industrial policy gave rise to repeated and growing controversies regarding China's economic statism.…”