The Revival, Legitimization, and Development of Private Enterprise in China - Empowering State Capitalism

This book illustrates the decline of the state-encouraged revival and legitimization of private enterprises in 1980s China. The economic crisis at the end of the 1970s drove the state to retreat from the market and allowed for the revival and legitimization of private enterprise. The great wealth generated by the private enterprises also strengthened the fiscal capacity of the state, which in turn led to an increasingly interventionist state driven by intensive regional competition in economic growth. Zongshi Chen argues that the political connections of private entrepreneurs were more important in coastal enterprises than elsewhere, illustrating the strength of state capitalism in the coastal region.