China

Abstract

This chapter shows that the Chinese regime and its economic policy paradigm represent still another national chapter in the Asia-Pacific growth story. In the late 1970s, China broke free from the constrictive cage of Marxist–Leninist–Maoism, catalyzing four decades of rapid economic transformation. After abandoning the Maoist developmental model, the Chinese regime and its policy paradigm reflected a mix of traits found in each of the three regime types. For much of the period from the late 1970s until about 2008, the regime mirrored many of the structural features integral to the rapid growth and transformation in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. The most notable of these are strong and cohesive state institutions, the marginalization of opposition forces, targeted capital allocations, and heavy investment in the improvement of human capital.