Financial Reform with Chinese Characteristics

Abstract

This essay reviews Financial Institutions and Development in China, by Satyananda J. Gabriel. In this book, the author studies the role played by the financial system in China’s economic expansion and in the gradual transformation of that sector. The author’s description of the financial sector is detailed and the information he provides is useful in picturing the various parts of the Chinese financial system. The author also raises important questions regarding financial reforms in China and how they have shaped capital accumulation. However, he falls short of his ambitious goal of elucidating the role of the financial sector in the Chinese expansion. There are important issues with the organization of the book, the analytical framework used, and the evidence or arguments brought forward to support many of the book’s claims. As such, the reader is left without satisfactory answers to many of the intriguing questions raised in the book.

Key Words:

• China
• Chinese Expansion
• Economic Transition
• Financial Reform
• State Capitalism