China: Non-capitalist Market Economy or Neoliberalism with Chinese Characteristics

Neoliberalism became a mainstream concept in the field of international political economy for more than forty years. Starting from the 1970s, Western countries and later the rest of the world started to question the role of the state in the market. As a result, under the new ideas of neoliberalism, governments transformed from providers of public welfare into promoters of the free market and competition among individuals. Under neoliberalism, we are living in the world of free market and liberalization of trade and capital. Neoliberalism is associated with the Western countries and their ideology of democracy and freedom. Thus, the economic model of China that has experienced a spectacular growth after the 1990s was considered by a number of scholars as a more egalitarian and humane alternative to the Anglo-Saxon model of capitalism. The aim of the thesis is to analyze Chinese development path and compare it with the development path of the neoliberal model peculiar to the Western countries. The main hypothesis of the thesis is that the economic model implemented in China cannot be considered as an alternative to neoliberalism. The Chinese government implemented a number of neoliberal principles and ideas in order to achieve economic development and become part of the international economy. Thus, China did not create an alternative development model to Western neoliberalism. The main argument of this thesis is that Chinese development strategy should be understood as “neoliberalism with Chinese characteristics”. Keywords: Neoliberalism, Washington Consensus, China, Beijing Consensus, Globalization