SOAS Research Online

Abstract

China's post-Mao reforms have gradually introduced markets and transformed the planned economy. This dissertation investigates the impact of those market-oriented reforms on state bureaux that administered the planning system. It does this through a study of departments that allocated consumer goods and housing in the north-eastern city of Tianjin. It argues that markets have resulted in the emergence of state entrepreneurialism in these sectors. The introduction of commodity markets has compelled state commerce bureaux to become entrepreneurial by rendering them obsolete. In the property sector, limited real estate markets have provided bureaux with opportunities to do real estate development business. Contrary to the expectations in current thinking on market reform, the Chinese state entrepreneurialism shows that states do not have to resist change and can embrace markets. In the context of a world-wide trend toward marketisation, the Chinese state's adaptive activities are of wider relevance. The key features of the entrepreneurial state are outlined as a model to aid future comparative research.