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State-led Financialization in China: The Case of the Government-guided Investment Fund

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 August 2020

Fenghua Pan ,
Fangzhu Zhang  and
Fulong Wu
Fenghua Pan*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
Fangzhu Zhang
Affiliation:
Bartlett School of Planning, University College London. E-mail: fangzhu.zhang@ucl.ac.uk.
Fulong Wu
Affiliation:
Bartlett School of Planning, University College London. E-mail: fulong.wu@ucl.ac.uk.
*
Email: panfenghua@bnu.edu.cn (corresponding author).
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Abstract

China is witnessing a growing trend towards financialization by the state. Drawing on the concept of state-led financialization, this study is the first to explore how the government-guided investment fund (GGIF) has evolved and spread throughout the country. The promotion policies and practices of the central government have laid the key foundation for the development of GGIFs, while local governments have quickly adopted this new financial tool, resulting in its widespread take up. State-owned enterprises are heavily involved in the operation of GGIFs, indicating that this market-oriented tool has largely failed to attract capital from the private sector. This study shows that state-led financialization in China has strengthened rather than weakened the influence of the state in the economy, which is not the case in most Western economies. However, the limitations and risks of the GGIF are also related to the dominant role of the state in GGIF operations.

摘要

摘要

政府的金融化日益成为全球性趋势。基于“政府主导的金融化”这一概念，本研究首次考察了政府引导基金在中国产生并扩散到全国各地的过程。中央政府的一系列政策倡导以及率先成立若干基金，为政府引导基金的发展奠定了基础。地方政府迅速接受并采纳了这一新的金融化政策工具，从而带来其广泛传播。大量国有企业深度介入了政府引导基金的设立和运营，从这个角度看，意味着政府引导基金吸引社会资本的初衷并没有实现。该研究表明，与西方国家的情形不同的是，政府主导的金融化在中国进一步增强而非减弱了政府在经济活动中的影响力。然而，政府引导基金这一金融化政策工具的局限性和潜在风险也与政府和国有企业在政府引导基金中的绝对主导地位高度相关。

Keywords

state-led financializationgovernment-guided investment fundindustrial development policyurban developmentstate-owned firmsChina政府主导的金融化政府引导基金产业发展政策城市发展国有企业中国
Type
Research Article
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 247 , September 2021 , pp. 749 - 772
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Copyright
Copyright © SOAS University of London, 2020.

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