This chapter explores the fundamental reasons behind the continued existence of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in China's economy. Despite inefficiencies, SOEs provide the Chinese Communist Party with crucial control over key economic sectors and leverage over employment and resource allocation.
SOEs are a mechanism for the Communist Party to control key sectors.
The Party prioritizes control over efficiency in SOEs.
SOEs are not a natural feature of Chinese business society, unlike in other East Asian economies.
In this episode of Pekingology which aired on Dec. 10, 2020, Jude Blanchette talks to Jörg Wuttke, the president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China, to discuss the expanding power and influence of state-owned enterprises in China's economy.