Privatisation and local governments in Mainland China: A critical assessment

Local authorities in China have already privatised most of their small and medium-sized state-owned enterprises (SOEs) following the endorsement of this policy by the 15th Communist Party Congress in September 1997. Their incentives for doing so, however, are often to be found in rent-seeking rather than in the desire to increase competition or attract foreign direct investment. Profound economic and institutional reforms will be required if “market-preserving” incentives are to become the dominant ones in China’s transition process.