Changing roles of the state in the financialization of urban development through chengtou in China

Abstract

ABSTRACT While the enabling role of the state in the financialization of urban development has been widely noted, the changing and variegated roles of different state actors have been less explored. This paper investigates this issue based on chengtou as financial agencies in China. First, we show that financialization is not merely a state-led process, but that the state also restricted financialization at different stages. Second, albeit with stringent central regulations, local states have striven to support chengtou, which demonstrates intrastate divergence. Third, we illustrate the performance of local states across regions to show that financialization further differentiates the patterns of local financing.