The Chinese government is one of the most important actors in international affairs today. China’s global economic and diplomatic presence is challenging the earlier dominance by the Western powers. To thoroughly understand how the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has grown in power requires a careful analysis of its political system. What contribution has the political system and government activity made in respect to China’s economic transformation? What consequences will the economic modernisation and world-economic integration have on the political system? Is the political system able to adapt to changing economic, technological, and international conditions? Which potentials and risks will shape the mid-term development of the political system?
The book offers a differentiated understanding of the conditions, potentials and risks of the political development in China. It is based on a comprehensive of analysis of Chinese resources and gives readers the most current overview of international China research.
"China's political system" published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers is available on Amazon.
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Updates on China's Political System
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4.6 The role of government in the banking and financial systems
Online peer-to-peer lenders have been specifically targeted with a notice to suspend regulatory approval for internet microlenders.
The three banks, China Development Bank, Export-Import Bank of China, and the Agricultural Development Bank will face mechanisms intended to make sure they won’t lend more cash than they can afford.
4.9 Decentralized economic policies and regional disparities
In a further push to advance targets for industrial upgrading, the State Council released a circular to establish regional Made in China 2025 demonstration zones. The circular calls for cities and regional clusters to improve innovation and industrial upgrading. To achieve national targets cities or regions are also encouraged to make use of flexible micro policies.
The State Council has announced new financial experiments within the Shanghai port following disappointment in how policies in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone (FTZ) introduced in 2013 worked out. The newly introduced policies in the port area include eased capital controls, removal of customs duties and fewer clearance procedures compared to the Shanghai FTZ.
On November 22, various Chinese news outlets have reported about child abuse at a nursery in Beijing’s Chaoyang district catering white collar employees. Chinese authorities were quick to clamp down on widespread online outrage. A 40-day campaign of Beijing’s city government to evict migrant workers from “unsafe” houses launched after a fire killed 19 people on November 18, was met with criticism from China’s Central Television as well from public intellectuals who addressed an open letter to the government.
5.3 Rural society
Shortly after a fatal fire in a Beijing outskirt, the municipal government ordered a 40-day crackdown of buildings with potential fire hazards, according to a directive issued by the Beijing Work Safety Committee. Thousands of Beijing tenants, mostly migrant workers, are being evicted from their homes as a result.
6.2 Administrative modernization and economic deregulation
The Modernization of China’s State Governance. Hu, A., Tang, X., Yang, Z., Yan, Y.; Springer Verlag 2017.
Facing an increasing demographic challenge with its aging population, China will set aside state-owned enterprises’ assets to make up for the shortage of money in the nation’s pension funds. On November 18, the State Council issued a plan envisaging the transfer of ten percent of such assets into social security funds. The process will start with a rather small-scale pilot project involving three to five state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and two financial institutions administered by the central government. Some provinces will also tentatively implement the program, the statement said. Based on the experimental results, more SOEs and financial institutions will be added in 2018.
(see also MERICS China Update Nr. 19/2017)
6.7 Public budgets: The role of local-government financing platforms
The commission is tasked to coordinate reforms and regulations between existing regulators and hold regulators and local governments accountable for failure to enact policy
6.8 Infrastructure policy and the high-speed rail network
In November 2017, a new cargo railway line was opened connecting Kouvola, Finland and Xi’an, China. It now takes 17 days to cover the 9,000 km distance which is 30 days less than shipment times. This railway link marks the integration of Nordic countries in the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative.