A Political Economy Perspective of the Chinese Government Tactical Behavior

Abstract

In the last decades China experienced a sustained economic growth that has led to an exceptional increase in its income and, thanks to this performance, China is now one of the main actors on the world economic scene. But, in spite of this economic opening, there had been no political opening. Moreover, the development process has been strictly controlled by the Chinese government and not all regions and social groups have been equally involved in it. In the paper I will investigate the tactical behavior of the Chinese government in favoring certain geographical regions and certain social groups in order to pursue economic growth and maintaining the power through this development phase. This issue is relevant both to the understanding of the determinants of Chinese government behavior and to provide some insight on which could be the possible future changes regarding Chinese political life.