Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-54dcc4c588-9xpg2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-01T13:06:58.850Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Index

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 September 2025

Ning Leng
Ning Leng
Affiliation:
Georgetown University, Washington DC

Information

Type
Chapter
Information
Politicizing Business
How Firms Are Made to Serve the Party-State in China
 , pp. 203 - 209
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

Index

1994 tax sharing reform, 81
Administrative Litigation Law, 173
administrative reforms, 24
aesthetically pleasing buses, 85, 113
Air China, 5
air-conditioned buses, 99–100
Alibaba, 2
allies, 13, 23
SOEs as, for local government in protests, 75–76, 77, 122–125
ambiguous policy directives, 45–48
anti-corruption campaigns, 24, 110
appeasement, 35, 72, 122, 146
in waste incineration plants, 125–128, 145–146, 149, 150, 154
authoritarian officials, 5, 15, 56, 68, 69
competence and loyalty, 159–160
political services. See political services
authoritarian state, 1, 7, 10, 14, 16, 30, 31, 82, 158, 161, 174, 176
authoritarianism, 10, 12, 23, 25, 30, 48, 49, 58, 158–164, 175, 176
features of, 160
blame avoidance, 14, 15, 41, 45, 63, 120, 125, 126
blame deflection, 13, 15–16, 72, 74
in protests, 74–75
bottom-up demands, 48–52
bottom-up evaluation, 60
Boycko, Maxim, 23
bribery, 16
Du, Shicheng, 43
Li, Chuncheng, 17–18
Nie, Chunyu, 17
BRT systems. See Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems
budget constraints, 20–21, 64, 174
bus beautification projects, 84–85, 89
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems, 86–87, 89, 99, 102–105, 106, 108
bus upgrade projects, 85–86, 89
cadre evaluation system, 49, 57, 58, 84, 165, 169, 170
components of, 58
bottom-up evaluation, 60
target responsibility system, 58–59, 165
top-down evaluation, 59–60, 159
insecurities of, 60, 63
from target responsibility system, 60–62
from top-down evaluation, 62–63
campaign donations, 11
CCP. See Communist Party of China (CCP)
central environmental initiatives, 84
central SOEs, 8, 75, 123, 136
Wuxi incineration plants by, 143–147
Cheng, Kejie, 109, 110
coercion, 18, 21, 64, 80, 109, 173
Communist Party of China (CCP), 26, 84, 159, 160, 166
formal evaluations of Chinese official, 14–15, 46
laws and policies, 6–7
on market economy, 26
partial political reforms, 28–29
private entrepreneurs as members of, 7
socialist market economy, 3
video gaming curfews, 2
Xiaoping’s economic reform, 26
competition, firm, 10, 20, 23
budget constraints, 20–21
political capital, 21–22
complete contracts, 8, 9, 33
concession, 72, 81, 125, 128
corruption, 12, 17, 24, 129, 161, 167, 172
Du, Shicheng, 43
in waste incineration sector, 129–130
credit claiming, 14, 15, 18, 20, 41, 45, 54, 120, 128, 170
de-desertification project, 52–53
democratization, 28
deprivatization, 32, 34, 35, 162, 163, 188
of urban bus sector, 79–80, 81–83, 113
bureaucratic fragmentation for, 112–113
Guangzhou and Nanning. See Guangzhou’s bus sector; Nanning’s bus sector
visibility project and. See urban bus sector, visibility projects in
development projects, 54
domestic security, 9
Dongxing, 5
Du, Shicheng, 42, 43
economic predation, 8, 9, 23, 24, 26, 29, 30, 31, 33
economic reform, 1, 3, 6, 25, 26, 28, 29, 176
Xiaoping, Deng, 26
economic services, 11
Enfi, 144, 145, 147, 152, 153
environmental sustainability, 166, 168
local officials’ incentives, alignment of, 168–171
firm’s ownership, 20, 23, 27, 64, 73–74, 115, 126–128, 137, 147, 155, 177, 188
fiscal health, 90, 133
forced merger and acquisition by SOEs, 27
Dongxing and Air China, 5
Rizhao and Shandong Iron and Steel Group, 4–5
franchising, government, 81, 118
free universal healthcare reform, 48–49
Fuller, Douglas B., 25
Gan, Xin, 107
Gilley, Bruce, 169
goal displacement phenomenon, 46
Google China, censoring search results of, 19–20
government franchising, 81, 118
“Grain for Green” program, 49–50
Guangzhou, 95
Guangzhou’s bus sector
deprivatization of, 95–96, 97–98, 105–106, 108
bureaucratic fragmentation for, 112–113
Gan, Xin, 107
investment environment of, 96
Ou, Bingchang, 107
privatization of, 97
weak regulatory capacity for, 111–112
visibility projects in, 98–99
ambitious leadership behind, 106–108
Asian Games, private firms’ resistance in, 105
phase I, 1994–2002 (air-conditioned buses), 99–100
phase II, 2003–2005 (LPG buses), 100–102
phase III, 2005–2007 (BRT system), 102–105, 106, 108
private firms’ resistance to, 104–105, 108
Xian, Weixiong, 107
Zhang, Guangning, 107
Zhu, Xiaodan, 107–108
hard budget constraints, 20, 64, 164
high-profile protests, 70–71, 72, 75, 76, 77–78, 115
against waste incineration plants, 119–122, 156
appeasement strategies, 125–128
concession, 128
persuasion, 126–128
quantitative analysis of firm choice and, 131–138
suppressing, 122–123
temporary shut down of plants, 128
Hirschman, Albert, 54
Hosmer, David W., 88
Hsueh, Roselyn, 25
institutionalization, 161
Jade City’s wastewater treatment, 37–41
Jinping, Xi, 3, 6, 45, 176
Johnson, Thomas, 120
landfills, 116, 117, 118
legal reforms, 24
Li, Chenglong, 110
Li, Chuncheng, bribery case of, 17–18
Liu, Zhibing, 110
lobbying, 16
local demands, Party-state’s preferences on, 48–52
LPG buses, 85, 86, 100–102, 104, 106, 107
Macau bus firm, 98, 102, 104
market reform, China’s, 23–31
Mattingly, Daniel C., 72
media campaigns, 12
merger and acquisition, 177
methane production, 116
Mo, Jun, 110
modernization theory, 28
Nanning, 95
Nanning’s bus sector
deprivatization of, 111
bureaucratic fragmentation for, 113
investment environment of, 96
new energy buses in, 108–109
privatization of, 97, 98
weak regulatory capacity for, 111–112
visibility projects in, 98–99, 108
lack of, 108–111
Yu’s Beautiful Nanning campaign, 110–111
national and local governments relation, 171–175
National Civilized City, 84, 89
National Public Transportation City, 84, 89
National Public Transportation Model City, 104
national security, 8, 9, 82
nationalization, 8, 27–28, 32, 177
new energy buses, 85, 98, 102, 105, 108–109, 111, 113
Nie, Chunyu, bribery case of, 17
not in my back yard (NIMBY) protests, 78, 120
office buying, 12
Office of Letters and Visits, 80
Ong, Lynette H., 72
Ou, Bingchang, 107
Party-state’s preferences, 48–52
People’s Armed Police (PAP), 70–71
performance evaluation, 14–15, 44, 46, 57, 61, 63, 69
cadre. See cadre evaluation system
quantitative, 59, 159
performative governance, 45
persuasion, 64, 72, 80, 121, 125, 126–128
policy experimentation, 57
political capital, 21–22, 69, 76, 164, 174
definition, 73
firms’ ownership types and, 73–74
by firms’ sectors, 73
firms’ size and, 73
SOEs vs. private firms, 72–74
in waste incineration sector. See waste incineration plants, firms’ type and political capital
of Wuxi and Qinhuangdao incineration plants, 152–154
political connections, 21, 22, 73–74, 76, 122, 126
political economy model, 161–164, 175–176
political gains, 8
political incentives, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 19, 23, 25, 26, 29, 30, 33, 44, 45, 48, 54, 55, 57, 59, 60, 71, 109, 111, 112, 129, 153, 158, 165, 166, 169, 171, 172, 174
political leaders’ tenure, 90
political predation, 29, 30
political reforms, 24, 25
political services, 5, 10, 11, 23. See also societal control; visibility projects
purpose to Chinese officials, 14–16
regulation vs. bribe, 16–20
politicizing firms, authoritarian logics for, 25–26
pork barrel project, 51–52
Potemkin village projects, 44–45
private capital, 165, 176
private firms, 1, 5, 6, 9, 10, 12
in 2022, 7
budget constraints, 20, 21
local government strategies against protests, 72
blame deflection on, 74
fines and suspension, 74
as scapegoats, 74, 76, 125–130
political capital, 22, 72–74
societal control functions, 22–23
visibility projects unsustainability to, 63–65
in waste incineration sector, 122, 125–130
private investment, 160, 161, 165
privatization
in solid waste treatment sector, 33
in urban bus sector, 33, 80–81, 97, 111–112
protests, 69–70, 71
blame deflection in, 74–75
high-profile, 70, 72, 75, 76, 77–78, 115
against waste incineration plants, 119–123, 156
appeasement strategies, 125–128
concession, 128
persuasion, 126–128
quantitative analysis of firm choice and, 131–138
temporary shut down of plants, 128
casualties, 70
coverage of protest in news media, 71
People’s Armed Police (PAP), mobilization of, 70–71
local government strategies against, 76. See also appeasement; concession; persuasion; suppression
appeasement, 72
private firms as scapegoats in, 74, 76, 125–130
private firms’ role in, 72
reasons for not using SOEs as scapegoats, 74–75
SOEs as allies, 75–76, 77, 122–125
suppression, 72, 75, 76, 77
not in my back yard (NIMBY), 78, 120
Tiananmen, 27
public protests, 66–68, 71
public transportation, 33, 80, 81, 84, 102
public transportation system upgrade, 79
public–private partnership, 24, 38, 39, 41, 78, 144, 166
Qingdao city, Du’s visibility projects in, 42–43
Qinhuangdao incineration plant, 148, 153–154
illegal launch of, 148–150
Wuxi incineration plants vs., 150–151
appeasement strategy, 154
paying for costs incurred from suspension, 154
political capital, 152–154
rule of law, 151
state capacity in suppressing protests, 151–152
quantitative performance evaluation systems, 59
registered capital, 64
regulation vs. bribe, 16–20
rent-seeking projects, 47–48
restrictions on private firms’ entry, 177
Rizhao steel, 4–5
Rotenberg, Arkady, 13
scapegoats, firms as, 13, 14, 22, 69
in protests, 74, 76, 125–130
Scott, James, 104
selectoral campaigns, 12–13, 15, 56–58, 87. See also visibility projects
authoritarian origin of, 58–63
selectorates, 56
Shandong Iron and Steel Group, 4–5
shareholder sale, 177
Shih, Victor, 25
Shleifer, Andrei, 23
shutting down of entire private sector, 5, 177
social capital, 21
socialism, 8
socialist market economy, 3, 4, 7
societal control, 10, 13–14, 16, 21, 25, 72, 174. See also protests
blame deflection, 15–16, 72, 74–75
Google, 19–20
on internet firms, 19–20
private firms vs. SOEs, 22–23
in waste treatment sector. See solid waste treatment sector
SOEs. See state-owned enterprises (SOEs)
soft budget constraints, 21, 64, 86
solid waste recycling, 170–171
solid waste treatment sector, 35, 78, 115–119, 156–157, 174, 175
environmental education bases, 129
garbage disposal methods in before 1990s, 115–116
government franchising, 118
incineration plants. See waste incineration plants
landfills, 116, 117, 118
Ministry of Ecology and Environment, 116
national environmental initiatives, 116
private firms in, 118–119
privatization and contracting out in, 33
reciprocation forms for firms’ political services, 155–156
waste-to-energy (WtE) projects, 116–117
speculation and profiteering, 26–27
sponge city, 166
standard franchise contract, 81
state advancement of private sector, 178–179
state capitalism, 8–9
state encroachment, 1–4, 23
in 2021, 2
after 1993, 4–5
central pattern of, 7–8
central states’ laws and policy, 6–7
complete contracts, writing, 8, 9
domestic security, 9
economic predation, 8, 9
local governments, 9–10
national security, 8, 9
political gains, 8
prior to 1993, 4
private tutoring, shut down of, 2, 5
shutting down of entire private sector, 2, 5
video gaming curfews, 2
state intrusion, 7–8, 9
state predation, 23
state–business collusion, 156, 174
state–business relations, 3, 14, 22, 23, 29, 30, 32, 34, 87, 148, 155, 158, 171–175, 176
State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, 8
state-owned enterprises (SOEs), 5, 10, 24, 27, 65, 67, 68, 69, 86, 118, 121
budget constraints, 20, 21
central, 8, 75, 123, 136
Wuxi incineration plants by, 143–147
forced merger with and acquisition by. See forced merger and acquisition by SOEs
in protests
as allies for local government, 75–76, 77, 122–125
reasons for not using SOEs as scapegoats, 74–75
political capital, 22, 72–74, 75
societal control functions, 22–23
State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, 8
strong, 122–125, 126, 128
bargaining power, 130
weak, 122, 130–131
strong SOEs, 122–125, 126, 128, 130
Suharto, allies of, 13
suppression, 13, 14, 23, 35, 70, 71, 72, 75, 76, 77, 122–123, 125, 131, 146
in waste incineration plants, 146, 148, 150, 151–152, 155, 157
sustainable development, 10, 36, 38, 39, 55, 56, 83
economic growth and, 167–168
local officials’ incentives, alignment of, 165, 168–171
private investors, 165
visibility projects, sustainability of, 52–55, 63–65
target responsibility system, 58–59, 60–62, 165
Three North Shelterbelt Project, 52–53
Tiananmen protest, 27
top-down evaluation, 59–60, 62–63
urban bus sector, 32–33, 65, 83, 162, 174
aesthetically pleasing buses, 85, 113
air-conditioned buses, 99–100
deprivatization of, 79–80, 81–83, 88–93
bureaucratic fragmentation for, 112–113
extra-contract demands, 85–86
fiscal health, 90
government franchising in, 81
LPG buses, 85, 86, 100–102, 104, 106, 107
marketization of, 80–81
new energy buses, 85, 98, 102, 105, 108–109, 111, 113
ownership change in, 82
privatization and contracting out in, 33, 80–81
profitability percentage in, 33
public transportation system upgrade, 79
visibility projects in, 113–114
bus beautification projects, 84–85, 89
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems, construction of, 86–87, 89, 99, 102–105, 106, 108
bus upgrade projects, 85–86, 89
cost of, 87
deprivatization, effects on, 88–93, 180–181, 183–184
effect on private firms’ survival, 87–94
Guangzhou and Nanning. See Guangzhou’s bus sector; Nanning’s bus sector
justification for launching, 83–84
Vishny, Robert W., 23
visibility projects, 10, 12–13, 15, 18–19, 83, 159, 168, 170
authoritarian origin of, 58–63
budget constraints and, 20–21
for career advancement, 42, 44
definition, 41
development projects vs., 54
Du’s bridge and undersea tunnel project in Qingdao city, 42–43
economic efficiency of, 55
evolutions in, 55–56
features of, 44, 54–55
ambiguous policy directives, engagement with, 45–48
efforts beyond requirement, 44–45
principal’s preferences over bottom-up demands, prioritizing, 48–52
sustainability, lack of, 52–55
pork barrel project vs., 51–52
Potemkin village projects vs., 44–45
purpose of, 13, 41, 44, 47, 54
rent-seeking projects vs., 47–48
in robotics industry, 51
short-sighted local officials’ effects on, 53–54
target audience, 41, 42
direct benefits to, 52
Three North Shelterbelt Project, 52–53
trends in China, 55–56
unsustainability to private firms, 63–65
in urban bus sector. See urban bus sector, visibility projects in
in waste incineration sector, 128–129
white elephant project vs., 51–52
voluntary nationalization, 27–28
waste incineration plants, 32, 115, 116, 117, 155, 166
build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract, 118
data fabrication and punishment for illegal acts, 124–125
electricity generation in, 117
environmental impact assessment (EIA) of, 124
firm choice and protests, quantitative analysis, 131–134, 185–186
correlation between, 134–136
path dependence, 137–138
plant capacity and firm choice, 136–137
firms’ type and political capital, 122
bargaining powers, 129–130
environment violations by firm type, 126–128
private firms, 122, 125–130
strong SOEs, 122–125, 126, 128, 130
weak SOEs, 122, 130–131
high-profile protests against, 119–122, 156
appeasement strategies, 125–128
concession, 128
persuasion, 126–128
suppressing, 122–123
temporary shut down of plants, 128
methane production in, 116
number of plants by years, 117–118
private firms in, 119
Qinhuangdao. See Qinhuangdao incineration plant
visibility projects in, 128–129
in Wuxi. See Wuxi incineration plants and protests
waste treatment plants, 32–33
waste-to-energy (WtE) projects, 116–117
wastewater treatment, 48, 66–68
ambiguous policy directive with visibility projects, 47
Jade City’s, 37–41
weak SOEs, 122, 130–131
Weiming, 148, 153
white elephant project, 51–52
Wintrobe, Ronald, 160
WtE projects. See waste-to-energy (WtE) projects
Wuxi incineration plants and protests, 139–140
first plant by weak SOE, 140–141
Qinhuangdao incineration plant vs., 150–151
appeasement strategy, 154
paying for costs incurred from suspension, 154
political capital, 152–154
rule of law, 151
state capacity in suppressing protests, 151–152
second plant by local SOE and private firms, 141–143
third plant by central SOE Enfi, 143–147, 152–153
China Everbright Group with, 147
firm choice, 143–144
illegally forge signatures from resisdents, 144–145
investment and treatment capacity, 143
resident’s resistance and protests against, 145–147
Xian, Weixiong, 107
Xiaoping, Deng, 26, 28
Xu, Bingsong, 110
Yang, Weize, 141, 142, 143
Yu, Yuanhui, 110
Beautiful Nanning campaign, 110–111
Zhang, Guangning, 107
Zhu, Xiaodan, 107–108

Accessibility standard: WCAG 2.0 A

The HTML of this book conforms to version 2.0 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), ensuring core accessibility principles are addressed and meets the basic (A) level of WCAG compliance, addressing essential accessibility barriers.

Content Navigation

Table of contents navigation
Allows you to navigate directly to chapters, sections, or non‐text items through a linked table of contents, reducing the need for extensive scrolling.
Index navigation
Provides an interactive index, letting you go straight to where a term or subject appears in the text without manual searching.

Reading Order & Textual Equivalents

Single logical reading order
You will encounter all content (including footnotes, captions, etc.) in a clear, sequential flow, making it easier to follow with assistive tools like screen readers.

Structural and Technical Features

ARIA roles provided
You gain clarity from ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) roles and attributes, as they help assistive technologies interpret how each part of the content functions.

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge-org.demo.remotlog.com is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Index
  • Ning Leng, Georgetown University, Washington DC
  • Book: Politicizing Business
  • Online publication: 29 September 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009662277.012
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Index
  • Ning Leng, Georgetown University, Washington DC
  • Book: Politicizing Business
  • Online publication: 29 September 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009662277.012
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Index
  • Ning Leng, Georgetown University, Washington DC
  • Book: Politicizing Business
  • Online publication: 29 September 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009662277.012
Available formats
×