The China Paradox

Chapter 9 What Could Disrupt or Sustain the China Paradox?

China’s current problem is that the government-dominated economic structure has led to the collusion of public power and capital.

—Chinese economist, addressing a conference at the New York Stock Exchange, 2013.

The China paradox has emerged as a complex, fragile, yet highly effective equilibrium between forces that on the face of it might seem inimical, but in this specific historical context have proven to share common ground. China’s pragmatic CCP rulers energetically embraced foreign business ideas resulting in China’s extraordinary revitalization without abandoning its fundamental modus operandi. The reforms have been critical to shoring up the autocratic political order.

The China ...