Deepening Not Departure: Xi Jinping's Governance of China's State-owned Economy

Abstract To what extent has governance of China's state-owned economy changed under Xi Jinping? Against the background momentous shifts in political arena since 2012, some observe a decisive departure Xi's approach to managing enterprises (SOEs): towards tight centralized control by Chinese Communist Party and away from gradual marketization. Analysing main aims methods SOE over last two decades, we find that policy exhibits deepening pre-existing trends rather than departure. First, essential vision functions articulated is strikingly consistent with his predecessors. Second, administration's governing SOEs not novel; it relies on established mechanisms bureaucratic design, cadre management system, organizations campaigns. While amplified Party-centred tools command control, this appears be an incremental radical shift approach.