Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

China: A new kind of ‘mixed’ economy?

  • Perspective Article
  • Published:
Asian Business & Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This article examines conventional categorisations of the Chinese economy. This is done because categories and their labels carry messages and influence thinking. Ideally, categories and labels should be accurate and informative, yet for those seeking to understand the conduct of business in China, current labels offer little guidance. The most common categorisation is as an ‘economy in transition’. This phrase is meaningful to economists, but too vague to carry meaning to the wider community. International diplomacy prefers to categorise China simply as a ‘market economy’ or as a ‘non-market economy’. China arguably has both. Others offer ‘liberal market economy’ or ‘co-ordinated market economy’ and more differentiated typologies also exist. Yet it may be most realistic to view China as a new kind of ‘mixed’ economy. In this view, the most accurate and most informative label currently available is the one coined by the Chinese themselves: a ‘socialist market economy’.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ahrens, J. and Junemann, P. (2006) Transitional Institutions, Institutional Complementarities and Economic Performance in China. Schloss Reichartshausen, Germany: Dept. of Economics, European Business School.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amable, B. (2003) The Diversity of Modern Capitalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Amsden, A.H. (1989) Asia's Next Giant. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • American Chambers of Commerce. (2004, 2009) White Paper: American Business in China. American Chamber of Commerce PRC (Beijing) and American Chamber of Commerce Shanghai.

  • Areddy, J.T. (2009) Foreign banks get comfortable in China. Australian 15 May: 20.

  • Asia Times. (2006a) Time Warner bows out of China. Asia Times Online, 14 November, http://www.atimes.com, accessed 14 November 2006.

  • Asia Times. (2006b) Beijing tightens grip on critical sectors. Asia Times Online, 21 December, http://www.atimes.com, accessed 3 January 2007.

  • Baumol, W.J., Litan, R.E. and Schramm, C.J. (2007) Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism and the Economics of Growth and Prosperity. New Haven, CT and London: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bergsten, F., Gill, B., Lardy, N. and Mitchell, D. (2006) China: The Balance Sheet. New York: Public Affairs, on behalf of the Center for Strategic and International Studies and Institute for International Economics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boisot, M. and Child, J. (1996) The institutional nature of China's emerging economic order. In: D. Brown and R. Porter (eds.) Management Issues in China Volume 1. London and New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bremner, B. (2006) The Dragon's way or the tiger's. Business Week 20 November.

  • Callick, R. (2006) Beijing's financial grip ensures weak will survive. Australian 23 October.

  • Child, J. and Tse, D. (2001) China's transition and its implications for international business. Journal of International Business Studies 32 (1): 8–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conklin, D. (1991) Comparative Economic Systems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crouch, C. (2005) Capitalist Diversity and Change. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Deeg, R. and Jackson, G. (2007) Towards a more dynamic theory of capitalist variety. Socio-Economic Review 5: 149–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dickie, M. (2005) China blocks web phone service. Weekend Financial Times 10/11 September.

  • Dickie, M. and Tucker, S. (2006) China paves way for foreign banks. FT.com, 15 November, http://www.ft.com, accessed 16 November 2006.

  • Fairbank, J. and Goldman, M. (1998) China: A New History. Cambridge, MA: Belknap.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez, J. and Underwood, L. (2006) China CEO. Singapore: John Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, S. and Liu, G. (2005) Exit the Dragon? London and Oxford: RIIA/Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, P. and Soskice, D. (2001) Varieties of Capitalism: The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • HKTDC. (2007) Business alert – China. Services Sector, Hong Kong Trade and Development Council, Issue 2, 1 February.

  • Huang, R. (1997) China: A Macro History. Armonk, NY: Sharpe.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, C. (1982) MITI and the Japanese Miracle. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, I. (2009) Protectionism on the rise in China. Australian 29 April: 23.

  • Lane, D., Myant, M., Holscher, J. and Tomann, H. (2007) Varieties of Capitalism in Post-Communist Countries. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lindblom, C. (2001) The Market System. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGregor, R. (2006) Citigroup set to snatch Chinese bank. The Australian 20 October: 20.

  • Metcalfe, B. (2007) Foreign Banks in China May 2007. Report. Hong Kong: Financial Services division, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

  • Mortished, C. (2009) China snapping up resources in Central Asia. Australian (reprinted from Times, London) 30 April: 20.

  • Nathan, A. and Gilley, B. (2003) China's New Rulers: The Secret Files, 2nd edn. New York: New York Review of Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nee, V. (1992) Organisational dynamics of market transition: Hybrid forms, property rights, and mixed economy in China. Administrative Science Quarterly 37: 1–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nevitt, C. (1996) Private business associations in China: Evidence of civil society or local state power? China Journal 36: 25–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nolan, P. (1993) State and Market in the Chinese Economy. Basingstoke, UK: Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Nolan, P. (2004) Transforming China: Globalisation, Transition and Development. London: Anthem.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pei, M.X. (2004) Is China's transition trapped? Transcript of presentation for The China Program at The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington DC: Federal News Service; 29 January.

  • Pei, M.X. (2006) China's Trapped Transition. Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • People's Daily. (2005) China has socialist market economy in place. 13 July, http://english.peopledaily.com.cn, accessed 8 January 2007.

  • Porter, M. (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations. London: Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Porter, M. (2000) Attitudes, values and beliefs and the microeconomics of prosperity. In: L.E. Harrison and S.P. Huntingdon (eds.) Culture Matters. New York: Basic Books, pp. 14–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Qian, Y. and Xu, C. (1993) Why China's economic reforms differ: The M–Form hierarchy and entry/expansion of the non-state sector. The Economics of Transition 1 (2): 135–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Redding, G. (2002) The capitalist business system of China and its rationale. Asia Pacific Journal of Management 19: 221–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Redding, G. and Witt, M.A. (2006) The ‘tray of loose sand’: A thick description of the state-owned enterprise sector in China seen as a business system. Asian Business & Management 5: 87–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rudman, S. (2006) The Multinational Corporation in China. Malden, MA and Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, C. (2006) Beijing changes its trade tune. Australian Financial Review 17 October.

  • Story, J. (2003) China: The Race to Market. London: Pearson Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sutherland, T. (2005) Vaile puts squeeze on China. Australian Financial Review 7 October.

  • USG. (2006) National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers: 2006. China section, pp. 92–162. Washington DC: Diane.

  • Wade, R. (1990) Governing the Market. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wedeman, A. (2004) Corporate capitalism and socialist China. In: E. Gomez and H. Hsiao (eds.) Chinese Enterprise, Transnationalism and Identity. London and New York: RoutledgeCurzon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitley, R. (1992) Business Systems in East Asia. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitley, R. (1999) Divergent Capitalisms. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitley, R. (2007) Business Systems and Organisational Capabilities. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wonacott, P. (2002) Technical barriers keep WTO reform at bay in China – Flurry of new regulations on trade limit pain of opening up markets. Wall Street Journal 6 February: A12.

  • Woo-Cumings, M. (1999) The Developmental State. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • WSJ. (2006) Cracking open China's banks: Editorial. Wall Street Journal 22 November: 11.

  • Xinhua News Agency. (2007) China's service sector contributes less to GDP. 5 November. Accessed via China International Electronic Commerce Network, http://en.ec.com.cn/article/industry, 30 March 2009.

  • Xinhua News Agency. (2009) Assets of foreign banks in China up 7.37% in 2008, http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/, accessed 25 March 2009.

  • Yang, D.L. (2004) Remaking the Chinese Leviathan: Market Transition and the Politics of Governance in China. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang, J. (2002) Market power in China: Manifestations, effects and legislation. Review of Industrial Organisations 21 (2): 167–183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yeung, H.W.C. (2006) Change and continuity in Southeast Asian ethnic Chinese business. Asia Pacific Journal of Management 23: 229–254.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. GPO Box 498, 5005, S.A, Australia

    Fred Robins

Authors
  1. Fred Robins
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Robins, F. China: A new kind of ‘mixed’ economy?. Asian Bus Manage 9, 23–46 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1057/abm.2009.21

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/abm.2009.21

Keywords

Search

Navigation