A Great Shift: The Birth of Regulatory Party State in China
Abstract:
Since 2012, China's approach to economic governance has undergone a significant transformation. My paper introduces the "Great Shift" concept, encapsulating China's evolving regulatory strategy for state involvement in the economy. This shift goes beyond merely expanding the state sector or favoring state-owned enterprises (SOEs). It signifies a strategic pivot towards enhancing the state's regulatory capacity over diverse market entities, including private firms and SOEs, to align with strategic state objectives. The Great Shift denotes a recalibration of the state-market boundary within China's political economy. Its primary aim is to forge a "tamed market economy," bearing substantial implications for China's developmental path and its interactions with other major economies. Acknowledging the Great Shift calls for rethinking traditional "state capitalism" views and adopting a more nuanced engagement with China's distinct state-driven model. This study sheds light on the pivotal elements driving the Great Shift and its extensive impact on China's political economy and the broader scope of global economic governance.
Speaker:
Andrew Huang is a legal scholar and practitioner, focusing on the political economy of state capitalism, administrative law, regulatory policy, climate change law, and artificial intelligence governance. He completed his J.S.D. and LL.M. at Yale Law School and holds a Ph.D. and LL.M. from the University of Hong Kong, along with an LL.M. from Peking University. His scholarly contributions have appeared in publications such as the Michigan State International Law Review, Harvard Journal of Law and Technology, Journal of Comparative Law, and International Review of Chemistry Regulatory and Law. Dr. Huang has served in various academic and advisory capacities, including as an Adjunct Professor at Buenos Aires University Law School, a member of the Advisory Board for Business Environment in Guangzhou City, and as the founder of the Transnational Law Program and Latin American Law Program at Guangzhou University Law School. He has also worked as a part-time China Law Consultant at Covington & Burling LLP in New York and as a Senior Research Fellow at CM Thinktank in Beijing. Additionally, he is the founder and CEO of Wisehub Policy, a strategic think tank based in Hong Kong. His academic and professional experiences span several esteemed institutions, including Academia Sinica, Stanford University, Yale Law School, and the Sociology Department at Yale University.
