Abstract
This final chapter draws together the many strands that course through the prior discussion of state enterprises. These strands set the Chinese situation apart from the prevalent critiques of the Chinese state and its enterprises. These strands are, first, the prominence of the state in society; second, many state enterprises being state controlled rather than owned; third, the blurred distinction between state and non-state enterprises; fourth, listed state enterprises operating according to commercial principles and are profitable; and finally, state enterprises’ important role in the government’s internationalization efforts. Taken together, these points suggest that the use of Western theory to assess China’s state enterprises fails both on account of flawed assumptions and characterization. Hence, any assessment should be grounded on what its role actually is.
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Among historians who expressed this view is Cambridge University’s Philip Kuhn, while economists who argued for differences between the Chinese and Western economies include Nicholas Lardy and Yukon Huang. Huang’s latest book, Cracking the China Conundrum (2017), takes a contrarian view of China’s growth. Lardy has also dismissed predictions of doom for China that were premised on the country’s rapid growth (Woetzel, 2015).
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A good example is the Leader in the November 9, 2017, The Economist (2017) which lamented the dwindling of America’s global influence under Trump. “America”, it says, “has long been the greatest force for good in the world, upholding the liberal order and offering an example of how democracy works”. This has made it “more tempting for other countries to copy China’s autocratic model”.
References
The Economist (2017). America’s global influence has dwindled under Donald Trump. Retrieved from https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21731132-presidential-tour-asia-cannot-hide-fact-america-has-turned-inward-hurting-itself?cid1=cust/ednew/n/bl/n/2017119n/owned/n/n/nwl/n/n/ap/79430/n
Huang, Y. (2017). Cracking the China conundrum: Why conventional economic wisdom is often wrong. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Woetzel, J. (2015). 5 reasons why China’s economy won’t collapse. China Point Blog, McKinsey & Co China. October 14. Retrieved from http://mckinseychina.com/5-reasons-why-chinas-economy-wont-collapse/
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Li, R., Cheong, K.C. (2019). Conclusion. In: China’s State Enterprises. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0176-6_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0176-6_7
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