The Political Economy of Industrial Restructuring in China: the Case of Civil Aviation
Author(s)
Chung, Jae Ho
Abstract
China’s public sector is under great transformation. Remoulding widely scattered firms into a few gigantic corporate groups is actively being pursued by Beijing today in an effort to achieve economies of scale. Irrespective of the sector, the dominant trend of late has been to “grasp larger enterprises while letting go of smaller ones” (zhuadafangxiao). In the course of “grasping the large”, over 120 car manufacturers in China are to be “rationalized” into three gigantic conglomerates, and over 300 electricity suppliers are being restructured into five generation and two transmission giants. Plans are being considered to establish three gigantic media groups, encompassing television, radio, newspapers and publishing houses. The oil industry has already been reshaped into a few enormous conglomerates. And over three dozen passenger airlines are currently being reorganized into three to four airline groups.
