The Rise of Industrial Policy in China: Japanese Lessons, Chinese Adaptations, 1980-2012

Featured Speaker:
Sebastian Heilmann
Professor of Comparative Government and the Political Economy of China, University of Trier, Germany

This talk will present new findings on the emergence of large-scale industrial policy programs in China during the past decade and their proliferation since 2009. Two processes will be at the center of the presentation: the absorption and accommodation of Japanese industrial policy experiences by Chinese economic planners that started in the 1980s (explaining transnational policy adaptation); the failure of pioneering industrial policies during the 1990s and the forceful comeback of targeted national programs in China in recent years (explaining domestic policy breakthroughs and advocacy coalitions).