Red Capitalists in China : The Party, Private Entrepreneurs, and Prospects for Political Change

This book, first published in 2003, examines the evolving relationship between the Chinese Communist Party and private entrepreneurs. Although many foreign observers expect that economic change will inevitably lead to political change in China, the author shows that China's entrepreneurs are willing partners with the state rather than an autonomous force in opposition to the state.

It has become a truism that continued economic reform in China will contribute to political change. Policy makers as well as many scholars expect that formation of a private sector will lead, directly or indirectly through the emergence of a civil society, to political change and ultimately democratization. The rapidly growing numbers of private entrepreneurs, the formation of business associations, and the cooperative relationships between entrepreneurs and local officials are seen as initial indicators of a transition from China's still nominally communist political system. This book, first published in 2003, focuses on two related issues: whether the Chinese Communist Party is willing and able to adapt to the economic environment its reforms are bringing about, and whether China's 'red capitalists', private entrepreneurs who also belong to the communist party, are likely to be agents of political change.