Weapons Of The Rich. Strategic Action Of Private Entrepreneurs In Contemporary China. Thomas Heberer

(Significant legislation in 2018, comprehensively sort out specific cases). http://www.chinalawinfo.com/Feature/FeatureDisplay1.aspx?featureId=602&year=2018&data=2018/2/5 (accessed 4 May 2018).

      ⁵¹A prominent example of those private entrepreneurs recently acquitted is Zhang Wenzhong, founder of the Wumart chain stores, who was declared innocent of charges of fraud, embezzlement, and corporate bribery in May 2018, after spending nine of his 12-year sentence in jail. In fact, close connections to high-ranking officials may prove to be either a blessing or an existential danger for China’s private entrepreneurs, as their fortune becomes intrinsically linked to the destiny of their political patrons, a destiny which has become unpredictable in Xi Jinping’s China. See Wang (2018a).

      ⁵²‘Gongchang tingle! Dapi gongren shiye! Huanbao Zhongya xia, hai tan shenme fazhan’ (Factories stop production! Many workers are jobless! How to talk about development under strong pressure of environmental protection). https://www.xuehua.us/2018/08/10/

/zh-tw/ (accessed 15 February 2020) A respondent told us that in his hometown alone (a prefectural city) hundreds of enterprises had been officially closed, though many of them continued to operate clandestinely and with the silent approval of the local government. Interview, Chinese entrepreneur, Duisburg, 8 August 2018.

      ⁵³An article in Renmin Ribao noted in 2013 that the average lifespan of 50 percent of all private enterprises in China is less than five years (Cheng, 2013).

      ⁵⁴See also ‘Zhongda li hao. Zheng, shang xuejie jiti xingdong, min qi xinde de chuntian yao laile’ (Major advantages. Collective action of politics, business and scientists, the new spring for private enterprises is arriving). https://465557.kuaizhan.com/11/45/p5516239418a8bf (accessed 1 September 2018).

      ⁵⁵Li Keqiang kaocha Jiangsu — xia feiji weihe zhiben zheli? (Why did Li Keqiang go straight there after getting the aircraft during his inspection tour of Jiangsu?). http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2018-11/29/content_5344449.htm