Privatization in China: Why the Resistance? Analytical Essay by Top Papers

The paper looks at how the new push towards economic liberalization within China is seen as a legitimate threat to the jobs of millions of Chinese workers. The paper also addresses the resolve of the Chinese government to bring the economy within lock-step of the market, which means that the old ways of doing business - the familiarity of which have been a source of comfort to senior managers for some time - are now being replaced by an alien approach founded in another business culture. The paper considers the retreat of the government from a command economy, with its concomitant emphasis upon job security and high employment, that can easily be seen as a rejection of Beijing's commitments under the implicit Social Contract between the Chinese state and its citizens. Lastly, the paper discusses how privatization has met with resistance because of a sense that the state is scarcely credible when it comes to planning for such drastic reinventions and because many in the publicly-owned sector of the economy are unconvinced that wholesale changes are needed in order to spark economic growth. The paper concludes that fear, cynicism and the government's own shortcomings have made it possible for widespread resistance to be present.