In Search of a Rationalized Chinese Administrative State

Prof. Joseph Stiglitz (1998, P.15) rejected the traditional wisdom of equating development with economic prosperity and suggested the following: “The new development strategy takes as its core objective development, the transformation of society…. If successful, the new development strategy will not only raise GDP per capita, but also living standards, as evidenced by standards of health and literacy. It will reduce poverty— our goal should be its elimination, a goal that the more successful economies have actually attained (at least by the absolute poverty standard). It will be sustainable, strengthening the environment. And the real societal transformations will enhance the likelihood that the underlying policies will be durable, withstanding the vicissitudes sometimes accompanying democratic processes.” Prof. Stiglitz (1998, P. 43) also underscored two critical questions: “transformation to what kind of society, and for what ends?” These questions must be addressed by policy-makers of all nation-states, developed or developing.

One informant has reported that a petroleum company invested more than 1 billion (US) dollars to build a plant in Chongqing in recent years without considering all trade requirements, actual needs of the company, and cost-effectiveness, only as a gesture to pleasing Chongqing’s Party Chief Bo Xilai, who also served on the Politburo of CPC but purged in 2012 for obstructing justice, of which did enrich his accomplishment of enhancing development of Chongqing.