Governing China’s Digital Transformation: Industrial Policy, Regulatory Governance, and Innovation

This book examines China’s digital transformation and its complex policy landscape, offering fresh insights into how the world’s second-largest economy navigates the challenges of governing its rapidly evolving digital sector. Through detailed analysis, it reveals the intricate relationship between technological innovation and policy implementation in contemporary China.

The book explores critical themes including digital industrial policies, competition policy, data governance, and artificial intelligence development. It introduces two dynamics: the ＂digital amplification of fragmentation,＂ which explains how digital technologies intensify existing governance challenges, and the ＂technology-policy recursive loop,＂ which describes the interaction between technological advancement and regulatory responses. Using diverse data sources and covering developments such as China’s 2020-2021 regulatory crackdown of major technology firms like Alibaba and Tencent, the book provides a comprehensive examination of China’s unique approach to digital governance. Special attention is paid to pressing issues such as data security, cross-border data flows, and technological self-reliance.

An essential read for policymakers, business leaders, and scholars seeking to understand China’s digital economy and its implications for global digital governance. Its accessible analysis offers valuable insights for anyone interested in the intersection of technology, policy, and economic development in contemporary China.

Jiwei Qian is Senior Research Fellow at the East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore. He has published widely in leading academic journals, including China Quarterly, Journal of European Social Policy, Journal of Social Policy, Policy and Society, Policy Studies Journal, and Social Science & Medicine.