Whose China Model is it Anyway? The Contentious Search for Consensus

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Carnegie China

Whose China Model is it Anyway? The Contentious Search for Consensus

Any comparative exercise that contrasts the Chinese model of state–economy relations with that of the United States is inherently political and prone to various angles of critique

By Matt Ferchen

Published on Apr 3, 2012

Source: Review of International Political Economy

Has a Beijing Consensus emerged to challenge the Washington Consensus? If so, what is the essence of this alternative consensus and why does it matter? This article argues that efforts at a definitive description of a Chinese model of state–economy relations, especially as it compares to the original policy recommendations of the Washington Consensus, have and will continue to prove unsatisfying. This is because any such comparative exercise is inherently political and prone to various angles of critique. Instead, this article argues that it is precisely because of the politics of such comparison that competing and often contradictory portrayals of a Beijing Consensus or China Model have taken on importance inside and outside of China. This article further argues that western accounts of a Beijing Consensus or China Model alternative to the Washington Consensus too often ignore or minimize the contentious debates within China about how best to describe Chinese economic governance. This study, in contrast, seeks to understand China's relationship to the Washington Consensus by exploring how concepts like the Beijing Consensus or China Model are deployed and contested outside and inside of China. The article concludes by offering suggestions for further research on the domestic Chinese and international policy implications of debates about the Beijing Consensus.

About the Author

Matt Ferchen

Former Nonresident Scholar, Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy

Ferchen specializes in China’s political-economic relations with emerging economies. At the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center for Global Policy, he ran a program on China’s economic and political relations with the developing world, including Latin America.

Recent Work

Q&A
How China Is Reshaping International Development
- Matt Ferchen
Article
Why Unsustainable Chinese Infrastructure Deals Are a Two-Way Street
- Matt Ferchen, Anarkalee Perera

Economy

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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