Feng, Yi; (2022) The financialisation of urban development in China and the role of the state. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

Recent studies have documented the expansion of financial activities in urban development, which enmeshes the state in the financial market and leads to the restructuring of governance. This research aims to examine the most recent transformation of financialisation in urban development in China and unpack the role of the state therein. The empirical study is focused on the financial agencies mediating the process of land financialisation, including urban development corporations (chengtou) and land reserve centres. The research is based on mixed methods, including archival research, case studies and semi-structured interviews. Interviews were conducted with government officials, chengtou managers and urban scholars in Shanghai, Nanjing and Jiaxing to triangulate the understanding of local operations and the state-finance relationship. Through the investigation of financial agencies, this study examines the specific processes of financialisation, the restructuring of urban governance and the implications for the state-finance relationship. Empirically, this research provides a concrete analysis of how government agencies are used and transformed to mediate the financialisation of urban development in China. Especially, the corporatisation of Shanghai Chengtou demonstrates the government’s capacity for regrouping assets to secure financial operations. Theoretically, this research investigates the salient features of financialisation in China and contributes to the theorisation of financialisation. First, urban governance in China has become increasingly predicated on financial techniques and strategies. For instance, financialised urban governance in Shanghai is embodied in the use of shareholding to reassert government control and solve local financial problems. Moreover, this research contributes to understanding the state-finance nexus by highlighting the complexity of the state actors in financialisation at different times. In particular, the Chinese state has reconfigured the land reserve system to manage financial risks and control the pace of financialisation. In doing so, it internalises financial strategies and mechanisms into the state apparatus, leading to further state restructuring and the financialisation of the state itself.

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