Table Of ContentSTUDIES IN THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF PUBLIC POLICY
China’s Uneven
and Combined
Development
Steven Rolf
Studies in the Political Economy of Public Policy
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Steven Rolf
China’s Uneven
and Combined
Development
Steven Rolf
Digit Centre
University of Sussex
Brighton, UK
ISSN 2524-7441 ISSN 2524-745X (electronic)
Studies in the Political Economy of Public Policy
ISBN 978-3-030-55558-0 ISBN 978-3-030-55559-7 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55559-7
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To my mother, Sharon.
Acknowledgements
This work grew out of my PhD thesis which I researched at the Univer-
sity of Bristol’s School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies
(SPAIS) between 2012 and 2017. There, my supervisors Jeff Henderson
and Adam Dixon provided invaluable guidance and support. Jeff also
worked hard to secure me funding for language training and fieldwork
trips, and kindly provided countless meals and drinks.
My thanks to all those who helped out during my fieldwork in China,
andthosewhokeptmecompanywhileworkingonthethesisandeventu-
allythebook.ToSorayaandRobinforhostingmeforasignificantperiod
ofthewriting.Andtomyfamily:Jeff,Dai,Jo,Dave,Mike,Sophia,Joseph
and Jacob.
Most of all, my gratitude and love are extended to Rosa.
vii
Praise for ChinasUnevenand
’
CombinedDevelopment
“China’s geopolitical and economic ‘catch up’ is usually discussed in
terms of a new global ‘power’ challenging an established world order or
of types of capitalism—Anglo-American vs. state-capitalist, and so on—
ratherthanintermsoftheintersectionbetweenglobalandnationalcapi-
talisms, on the one hand, and different types of polity, on the other.
In a powerful synthesis of original theoretical discussion and up-to-date
detailed empirical analysis, Steve Rolf shows how much can be gained
from reframing China’s startling economic trajectory of the past thirty
years by highlighting dynamic processes of uneven and combined devel-
opment,ratherthanthoseofstaticcomparativemodelsthatignoreneces-
sary within-country as well as country-by-country differences in how
economic growth takes place.”
—John Agnew, Distinguished Professor of Geography, UCLA, USA
“ThroughthelensoftheMarxiantheoryofunevenandcombineddevel-
opment,RolfmeticulouslyweavestogetheracoherentaccountofChina’s
rise from the initiation of market reform to the Belt and Road Initiative
andthetradewarwiththeUS.Itshedsnewlightsonthemanycontradic-
tionswithinChinaandintheglobalgeopoliticaleconomythattheChina
boom brings.”
—Ho-fung Hung, Henry M. & Elizabeth P. Wisenfeld Professor in
Political Economy, The John Hopkins University, USA
ix
Contents
1 Introduction: China Shakes the World System 1
1.1 Overview 1
1.2 Theorising China’s Rise 8
References 15
2 Uneven and Combined Development and the Capitalist
States System 21
2.1 Introduction 21
2.2 The Revival of Uneven and Combined Development 23
2.3 The Limits of UCD? 29
2.4 Karl Marx and Uneven Geographical Development 32
2.5 Uneven Geographical Development and States 34
2.6 The Limits to Uneven Development Theory 38
2.7 A State Theoretical Extension 42
2.8 Uneven and Combined Development: Towards
a Research Programme 46
References 50
3 From Varieties of Capitalism to Uneven and Combined
Development: A New Perspective 59
3.1 Introduction 59
3.2 Varieties of Capitalism and China 60
3.3 Variegated Capitalism and Its Critique 65
xi
xii CONTENTS
3.4 States, Cities and Capital 71
3.5 Conclusion 78
References 80
4 China’s Boom (I): The Geopolitical Economy
of Reform and Opening, 1978–2000 87
4.1 Introduction 87
4.2 The Geopolitical Economy of Cross-Border Production 89
4.3 China’s ‘Historical Backwardness’ and the ‘Whip
of External Necessity’ 95
4.4 Politics of Reform and Opening 98
4.5 The WTO and the Revival of Statist Politics 112
4.6 Conclusion 115
References 117
5 China’s Boom (II): Making the ‘Leap’, 2001–2008 125
5.1 Introduction 125
5.2 The SOA Concept and Its Relationship with China’s
UCD 127
5.3 China’s Leap, 2001–2008: (1) The Export Sector 128
5.4 China’s Leap 2001–2008 (2): The State Sector 153
5.5 The Intertwinement of State and Private Sector 157
5.6 Conclusion 161
References 163
6 The ‘Rebalancing’ Fallacy: 2008 and Its Aftermath 171
6.1 Introduction 171
6.2 The Effects of the Crisis of 2008 in China 172
6.3 China’s ‘Rebalancing’: Contrasting Theories 174
6.4 Rebalancing Policies 184
6.5 Rebalancing and the ‘Middle-Income Trap’ 189
6.6 Summary 198
References 199
7 The State Resurgent 207
7.1 Introduction 207
7.2 The State Resurgent 208
7.3 The Real Estate Boom 215
