WEAPONS
OF
THE RICH
Strategic Action of Private Entrepreneurs
in Contemporary China
WEAPONS
OF
THE RICH
Strategic Action of Private Entrepreneurs in Contemporary China
Thomas Heberer
University Duisburg-Essen, Germany
Gunter Schubert
Eberha rd Karls University Tiibingen, Germany
Published by
World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Heberer, Thomas, author. | Schubert, Gunter, 1963– author.
Title: Weapons of the rich : strategic action of private entrepreneurs in contemporary China / Thomas Heberer, University Duisburg-Essen, Germany,
Gunter Schubert, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Germany.
Description: New Jersey : World Scientific, [2020] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020001849 | ISBN 9789811212796 (hardcover) |
ISBN 9789811212802 (ebook) | ISBN 9789811212819 (ebook other)
Subjects: LCSH: Entrepreneurship--China. | Businesspeople--China. | Privatization--China.
Classification: LCC HB615 .H3379 2020 | DDC 338/.040951--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020001849
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
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Copyright © 2020 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
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About the Authors
Thomas Heberer is Senior Professor of Chinese Politics & Society at the Institute of Political Science and the Institute of East Asian Studies, University Duisburg-Essen.
Gunter Schubert is Chair Professor of Greater China Studies at the Department of Chinese Studies, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen.
Acknowledgments
This book would not have been possible without the support of many individuals and institutions. We would like to express our heartfelt appreciation for the manifold support of our Chinese colleagues who spared no effort in helping us to open doors and set up interviews, discussing with us our observations and sharing with us as much joy as hardship when navigating in China’s tricky political system. Without their guidance, we would not have been able to conduct our fieldwork on all administrative levels nor to properly understand the many hidden rules and mechanisms of Chinese local politics. We are particularly grateful to Prof. Yu Keping and Prof. He Zengke from Peking University; to Prof. Yu Jianxing and Prof. Shen Yongdong from Zhejiang University; to Dr. Yang Xuedong, Dr. Chen Jiagang, Dr. Ding Kaijie, Dr. des Chen Xuelian, Dr. Li Yuejun, Dr. Liu Shengli, and Dr. Bao Chuanjian, our colleagues at the Central Translation and Compilation Bureau: to Prof. Chang Xinxin from the Central Party School; Prof. Yu Xianyang from Renmin University; Prof. Yu Junbo from Jilin University; Prof. Chen Baosheng from Wenzhou University; Prof. Han Guangming (Zhongshan University, Guangzhou) and Dr. Yu Xiuling as well as Prof. Zhou Yuhao from Zhengzhou University. We are further grateful to Hao Yi, Wang Weimin, Wang Jianmin, and Zhao Hui who organized and supported our research in Beijing, Qingdao, Jimo, Shenzhen, and Xuzhou; and the large number of officials and entrepreneurs who, through their personal efforts and networks, facilitated the success of this research. We would also like to thank our colleagues Prof. Zhou Xueguang from Stanford University and Prof. Björn Alpermann from the University of Würzburg for the time they spent to read through chapter drafts of this book and making valuable comments and suggestions.
Further thanks goes to Abbey S. Heffer for her meticulous proofreading and to Mario Hauter who patiently checked our chapter bibliographies.
This project has been generously supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Thomas Heberer and Gunter Schubert
Duisburg and Tübingen
August 20, 2019
Contents
Chapter 1The Rise and Current State of China’s Private Sector
Chapter 3Conceptual Framework: Private Entrepreneurs as a ‘Strategic Group’