Private Entrepreneurs and Political Impacts in China: The Case of Zhejiang

Abstract

The paper examines political impacts of China’s private entrepreneurs by assessing practical experiences in Zhejiang province. The investigation is carried out from two approaches. First, traditional tracks connecting economic development and political change are adopted to assess the possibility of political change pushed by Zhejiang’s private entrepreneurs. Second, the approach of endogenous institutional change leads the way to examine private entrepreneurs’ political impacts when they get connected with the Party‐state. Based on the assessment on Zhejiang’s private economy and analysis on private entrepreneurs’ political behavior, it gets to know that the expectation of political change following rapid economic development suggested by western political scientists might not be admired and pursued in the context of Zhejiang. However, in dealing with various institutional constraints on the private sector, Zhejiang’s private entrepreneurs appear with high contextual adaptability. They choose to make close connection with local government and get embedded in political institutions. In consequences, they built up direct channels in communicating with local authority; gained delegacy in political institutions and improved the profile of private sector. Therefore, the paper concludes that political impacts of Zhejiang’s private entrepreneurs are not on the aspect in pushing for political change. Rather, their political impacts largely put to use within the system when they are getting adaptive with the current institution.