State Neo-liberalism: The Chinese Road to Capitalism in Comparative Perspective

• In Event: 552 - Section on Political Economy of the World-Systems Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 01. Capitalism and Wealth in the World-System

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to identify the main elements of a new variety of capitalism in China within the context of Chinese domestic political economy, thus providing the first step to examine China’s emergent capitalism since 1978 what we label as “state neoliberalism.”

This paper first compares the similarities and differences between state neoliberalism in China with other varieties of capitalism in the South, in the West, and in post-socialist Eastern Europe.

Then it identifies the distinctive characteristics of state neoliberalism, and studies how state neoliberalism has engendered a ceaseless drive of capitalist accumulation in China, propelling China from a poor third world country to an economic powerhouse of the capitalist world-economy.

At the end, this paper will discuss the future prospect for state neoliberalism in the twenty-first century.

Author

• Alvin Y. So, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology