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Introduction

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Crony Comprador Capitalism
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Abstract

This chapter delves into the conceptual challenges associated with comprehending China's economic system and development model within the global academic landscape. It examines the concepts of crony capitalism and comprador capitalism, both of which are highly pertinent to the Chinese context. Ultimately, the chapter conceptualizes Chinese capitalism as a unique form of crony comprador capitalism.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For example, H. R. McMaster, former U.S. National Security Advisor 2017–2018, wrote in his memoire, “Deng Xiaoping’s reforms generated prosperity, but they also caused ideological incoherence… Authoritarian capitalism created ample opportunities for corruption and produced a bourgeois class larger than any other self-proclaimed Communist country has ever seen.” McMaster, H. R. (2020): Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World. London: William Collins, p. 101.

  2. 2.

    “Biden Defines His Underlying Challenge with China: ‘Prove Democracy Works’.” The New York Times, 26/03/2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/26/us/politics/biden-china-democracy.html.

  3. 3.

    Greenfield, G and Leong, A (1997): “China’s Communist Capitalism: The Real World of Market Socialism.” Socialist Register, Mar 18. https://socialistregister.com/index.php/srv/article/view/5684.

  4. 4.

    Meisner, M (1996): The Deng Xiaoping Era: An Inquiry into the Fate of Chinese Socialism, 1978–1994. New York: Hill & Wang; “China: Bureaucratic Capitalist?” An interview by Terry Conway with Yu, A. L., 07/11/2012. https://socialistresistance.org/china-bureaucratic-capitalist/4188.

  5. 5.

    Yu, A. L. (2014): “What Is the Nature of Capitalism in China? On the Rise of China and Its Inherent Contradictions,” in Yu, A. L. et al., China’s Rise: Strength and Fragility. Merlin: Resistance Book, p. 8.

  6. 6.

    “Alibaba’s I.P.O. Could Be a Bonanza for the Scions of Chinese Leaders.” The New York Times, 21/07/2014. https://archive.nytimes.com/dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/07/20/alibabas-i-p-o-could-be-a-bonanza-for-the-scions-of-chinese-leaders/.

  7. 7.

    For instance, Joshua Kurlantzick identifies “state capitalists as countries whose government has an ownership stake in or significant influence over more than one-third of the five-hundred largest companies, by revenue, in that country, a situation that gives these governments far greater control over the corporate sector than a government in a more free-market oriented nation like the United States or the United Kingdom, Generally, in these state-capitalists countries the government sees itself as having a direct role to play in managing the economy and guiding the corporate sector.” Kurlantzick, J (2016): State Capitalism—How the Return of Statism Is Transforming the World. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 9.

  8. 8.

    Olson, M (1982): The Rise and Decline of Nations: Economic Growth, Stagflation, and Social Rigidities. New Haven: Yale University Press; Wade, R (2003): Governing the Market—Economic Theory and the Role of Government in East Asian Industrialization (2nd ed.). NJ: Princeton University Press, Intro: xlviii.

  9. 9.

    Kurlantzick, J (2016), p. 10.

  10. 10.

    Grabas, C & Nutzenadel, A (2014): Industrial Policy in Europe After 1945—Wealth, Power and Economic Development in the Cold War. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 38–9, 74, 127, 144–8,153, 155–6, 284.

  11. 11.

    Chang, H. J. & Grabel, I (2004): Reclaiming Development—An Alternative Economic Policy Manual. London: Zed Book, p. 87.

  12. 12.

    Grabas, C & Nutzenadel (2014), p. 285.

  13. 13.

    Kurlantzick, J (2016), p. 200.

  14. 14.

    Lind, M (2012): Land of Promise: An Economic History of the United States. New York: Harper Collins, p. 465.

  15. 15.

    Ibid.

  16. 16.

    Wu, G (2017): Globalization against Democracy—A Political Economy of Capitalism After Its Global Triumph. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 297.

  17. 17.

    Kurlantzick (2016), p. 177.

  18. 18.

    In her article “30 Years of Reform: The Abnormal Development of State Capacity and Its Consequences,” He Qinglian issued a warning that the Chinese state could potentially descend into the category of “failed states” in broader socio-economic terms. Modern China Studies, No.4, 2008.

  19. 19.

    “Jiang Ping: China’s Rule of Law Is in a Period of Great Retrogression.” VOA (Chinese), 03/03/2010. https://www.voachinese.com/a/article-20100303-chinarulelawullretreat-86185087/462920.html; Also Jiang Ping: “Ten Years of Reflection on the Rule of Law in China.” 16/11/2010. https://www.sinoss.net/c/2010-11-16/533485.shtml.

  20. 20.

    Pei, M (2016): China’s Crony Capitalism—The Dynamics of Regime Decay. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

  21. 21.

    Stiglitz, J (2003): Making Globalization Work: The Next Step to Global Justice. London: Penguin Books, p. 31.

  22. 22.

    Huang, Y (2008): Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics—Entrepreneurship and the State. NY: Cambridge University Press, pp. 43, 280–1.

  23. 23.

    Ferraro, V (2008): “Dependency Theory: An Introduction,” in Secondi, G. (ed.), The Development Economics Reader. London: Routledge, p. 64.

  24. 24.

    Jepson, N (2019): In China’s Wake—How the Commodity Boom Transformed Development Strategies in the Global South. New York: Columbia University Press, p. 241.

  25. 25.

    Evans, P (1979): Dependent Development: The Alliance of Multinational, State, and Local Capital in Brazil. NJ: Princeton University Press.

  26. 26.

    Wu, G (2017), p. 16.

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Correspondence to Jianyong Yue .

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Yue, J. (2024). Introduction. In: Crony Comprador Capitalism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-53154-5_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-53154-5_1

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