AREA Ruhr is pleased to announce that the second volume in the AREA Ruhr Working Papers series has just been published. In the paper on “Party-State Dominated Economic Governance: The Politics of Regulation in China’s Steel- and Fintech-Sectors”, Jörn-Carsten Gottwald and Markus Taube discuss the regulation of one well-established traditional industrial sector – steel – and one technology-driven emerging field – fintech – to explore recent trends in regulatory governance. The authors highlight the increased role of the party-state in governing China’s economy.
The AREA (Alliance for Research on East Asia) Ruhr Working Papers offer insights into ongoing and completed research projects on East Asia – from a variety of disciplinary approaches. It’s first volume was now published and is available for download via the CrossAsia E-Publishing repositorium.
Volume 2 (2024)
Party-State Dominated Economic Governance : The Politics of Regulation in China’s Steel- and Fintech-Sectors
Gottwald, Jörn-Carsten / Taube, Markus
Abstract
The People’s Republic of China (China) hosts a unique set of economic institutions combining elements of its socialist system with components of open market economies. As part of its integration into the world economy since the 1990s, China has added regulatory agencies to the governance of several sectors of its economy. This led many observers to expect a development of China towards an established capitalist model. The instability of China’s institutional set-up, however, has rather cast a shadow on business-state interactions and has triggered numerous rounds of reforms. These tensions have intensified as China’s political order turned more ideological, more party-oriented, and less liberal.
Discussing the regulation of one well-established traditional industrial sector – steel – and one technology-driven emerging field – fintech – this paper explores recent trends in regulatory governance and highlights the increased role of the party-state in governing China’s economy. China has continued the idiosyncratic operationalization of different modes of regulatory governance. In recent years, it has left the path of transition towards a “Western-type” market economy and has redefined its stance towards “Western” templates. This course has led to the emergence of a unique form of economic governance dominated by the party-state.