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China's crony capitalism : the dynamics of regime decay

"When Deng Xiaoping launched his economic reforms in the late 1970s, he vowed to build "socialism with Chinese characteristics." Three and half decades later, behind its rapid growth and glitzy façade, modernization under one-party rule has spawned a form of rapacious crony capitalism characterized by endemic corruption, an incipient kleptocracy, record income inequality, and high social tensions. This book traces the origin of China's crony capitalism to a set of incomplete reforms of property rights in the post-Tiananmen era that have decentralized the control of public property without clarifying its ownership. This combination has created an ideal environment for political and economic elites to collude and amass private wealth through systematic theft of nominally state-owned property, in particular land, natural resources, and state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Based on illuminating details from 260 well-researched cases of corruption involved multiple officials and businessmen since the early 1990s, this study investigates how collusion among elites has penetrated the vital sectors of the Chinese political and economic systems. These cases reveal a well-developed illicit market for power inside the Chinese party-state, in which bribes and official appointments are surreptitiously but routinely traded. They also document the widespread theft inside Chinese SOEs and collusion between law enforcement officials and organized crime. Above all, through its in-depth analysis of the exchange of money for favors between government officials and private businessmen, the study shines a spotlight on the dark world of crony capitalism in China - and a Leninist regime in late-stage decay."--When Deng Xiaoping launched China on the path to economic reform in the late 1970s, he vowed to build "socialism with Chinese characteristics." More than three decades later, China's efforts to modernize have yielded something very different from the working people's paradise Deng envisioned: an incipient kleptocracy, characterized by endemic corruption, soaring income inequality, and growing social tensions. China's Crony Capitalism traces the origins of China's present-day troubles to the series of incomplete reforms from the post-Tiananmen era that decentralized the control of public property without clarifying its ownership. Beginning in the 1990s, changes in the control and ownership rights of state-owned assets allowed well-connected government officials and businessmen to amass huge fortunes through the systematic looting of state-owned property--in particular land, natural resources, and assets in state-run enterprises. Mustering compelling evidence from over two hundred corruption cases involving government and law enforcement officials, private businessmen, and organized crime members, Minxin Pei shows how collusion among elites has spawned an illicit market for power inside the party-state, in which bribes and official appointments are surreptitiously but routinely traded. This system of crony capitalism has created a legacy of criminality and entrenched privilege that will make any movement toward democracy difficult and disorderly. Rejecting conventional platitudes about the resilience of Chinese Communist Party rule, Pei gathers unambiguous evidence that beneath China's facade of ever-expanding prosperity and power lies a Leninist state in an advanced stage of decay.

Online EBSCO Academic Comprehensive Collection

Chu mai Zhongguo : quan gui zi ben zhu yi de qi yuan yu Gong chan dang zheng quan de kui bai

China's crony capitalism : the dynamics of regime decay

"When Deng Xiaoping launched his economic reforms in the late 1970s, he vowed to build "socialism with Chinese characteristics." Three and half decades later, behind its rapid growth and glitzy façade, modernization under one-party rule has spawned a form of rapacious crony capitalism characterized by endemic corruption, an incipient kleptocracy, record income inequality, and high social tensions. This book traces the origin of China's crony capitalism to a set of incomplete reforms of property rights in the post-Tiananmen era that have decentralized the control of public property without clarifying its ownership. This combination has created an ideal environment for political and economic elites to collude and amass private wealth through systematic theft of nominally state-owned property, in particular land, natural resources, and state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Based on illuminating details from 260 well-researched cases of corruption involved multiple officials and businessmen since the early 1990s, this study investigates how collusion among elites has penetrated the vital sectors of the Chinese political and economic systems. These cases reveal a well-developed illicit market for power inside the Chinese party-state, in which bribes and official appointments are surreptitiously but routinely traded. They also document the widespread theft inside Chinese SOEs and collusion between law enforcement officials and organized crime. Above all, through its in-depth analysis of the exchange of money for favors between government officials and private businessmen, the study shines a spotlight on the dark world of crony capitalism in China - and a Leninist regime in late-stage decay."--When Deng Xiaoping launched China on the path to economic reform in the late 1970s, he vowed to build "socialism with Chinese characteristics." More than three decades later, China's efforts to modernize have yielded something very different from the working people's paradise Deng envisioned: an incipient kleptocracy, characterized by endemic corruption, soaring income inequality, and growing social tensions. China's Crony Capitalism traces the origins of China's present-day troubles to the series of incomplete reforms from the post-Tiananmen era that decentralized the control of public property without clarifying its ownership. Beginning in the 1990s, changes in the control and ownership rights of state-owned assets allowed well-connected government officials and businessmen to amass huge fortunes through the systematic looting of state-owned property--in particular land, natural resources, and assets in state-run enterprises. Mustering compelling evidence from over two hundred corruption cases involving government and law enforcement officials, private businessmen, and organized crime members, Minxin Pei shows how collusion among elites has spawned an illicit market for power inside the party-state, in which bribes and official appointments are surreptitiously but routinely traded. This system of crony capitalism has created a legacy of criminality and entrenched privilege that will make any movement toward democracy difficult and disorderly. Rejecting conventional platitudes about the resilience of Chinese Communist Party rule, Pei gathers unambiguous evidence that beneath China's facade of ever-expanding prosperity and power lies a Leninist state in an advanced stage of decay.

Online EBSCO University Press