China`s Capitalism: A Paradoxical Route to Economic Prosperity, Tobias ten Brink

Since 1978, the end of the Mao era, economic growth in China has outperformed every previous economic expansion in modern history. While the largest Western economies continue to struggle with the effects of the deepest recession since World War II, the Peoples Republic of China still enjoys growth rates that are massive in comparison. In the countrys smog-choked cities, a chaotic climate of buying and selling prevails. Tireless expansion and inventiveness join forces with an attitude of national euphoria in which anything seems possible. No longer merely the workshop of the world, China is poised to become a global engine for innovation.
In Chinas Capitalism, Tobias ten Brink considers the history of the socioeconomic order that has emerged in the Peoples Republic. With empirical evidence and a theoretical foundation based in comparative and international political economy, ten Brink analyzes the main characteristics of Chinas socioeconomic system over time, identifies the key dynamics shaping this systems structure, and discusses current trends in further capitalist development. He argues that hegemonic state-business alliances mostly at the local level, relative homogeneity of party-state elites, the maintenance of a low-wage regime, and unanticipated coincidences between domestic and global processes are the driving forces behind Chinas rise. He also surveys the limits to the states influence over economic and social developments such as industrial overcapacity and social conflict.
Ten Brinks framework reveals how combinations of three heterogeneous actors—party-state institutions, firms, and workers—led to Chinas distinctive form of capitalism. Presenting a coherent and historically nuanced portrait, Chinas Capitalism is essential reading for anyone interested in the socioeconomic order of the Peoples Republic and the significant challenges facing its continuing development.