STATE, CAPITAL AND CHINA’S EMERGING CAPITALIST CLASS

ABSTRACT

This article contributes to the debate on the role of the State in economic development by shedding light on a dimension quite often ignored in the narrative on national-developmentalism in China: the relation between the Party-State and its emerging capitalists. To that end, we analyze the main mechanisms used for capital concentration and the formation of a domestic capitalist class in China; we examine the relationship of the emerging class with the Party-State and we suggest how such dynamics is linked to the accumulation regime in a broader sense. The purpose is to show how the formation of a new domestic capitalist class is a two-way avenue - a process guided by the Party-State and under strong pressure from the new class - and how it is finely tuned with the accumulation regime.

KEYWORDS:
China; party-state; capitalist class; capital accumulation