Wednesday, October 15, 2025
12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. EDT
Location: Mortara Center Building Conference Room
October 15, 2025
Politicizing Business: How Firms Are Made to Serve the Party-State in China
A Book Launch Event
Event Series: Chinese Politics and Economy Research Seminar Series
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Join the Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on Global Issues for a conversation with Ning Leng about her book, Politicizing Business: How Firms Are Made to Serve the Party-State in China (2025), which reveals how the Chinese state solicits political services from companies, resulting in an unstable investment environment and unintended development outcomes. R. Daniel Kelemen, McCourt Chair at the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy, will moderate the discussion.
Politicizing Business demonstrates that the politicization of firms is rooted in authoritarianism, often harming business interests and undermining China's efforts to attract and retain investment. Explaining the seemingly arbitrary state takeover of sectors and firms, this book uncovers previously overlooked forms of politicization and demonstrates how politicizing business often creates conflicts between the state and firms, particularly private firms, leading to a state dominated market in many sectors.
This event is co-sponsored by the Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on Global Issues and the McCourt School of Public Policy.
Featured
Ning Leng is an assistant professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University. For the 2025-2026 academic year, she is a Wilson China Fellow at the Wilson Center. Her research examines how nondemocratic institutions create unintended consequences in state-business relations and development outcomes, including public service provision, infrastructure building, and environment policy making. Her area of focus is China.
R. Daniel Kelemen is McCourt Chair at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University. He is also professor of law (by courtesy) at Georgetown Law. Kelemen's research interests include the politics and law of the European Union, comparative politics and law, and comparative public policy. Kelemen is a senior associate (non-resident) in the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).