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ST E FA N I E W E I L
LO B BY I NG A ND
FO R EI G N I NTE R ES TS
IN CHINESE POLITICS
Politics and Development of Contemporary China
Series Editors
Kevin G. Cai
Renison University College
University of Waterloo
Waterloo, Canada
Guang Pan
Shanghai Center for International Studies
Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences
Shanghai, China
Daniel Lynch
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California, USA
As China’s power grows, the search has begun in earnest for what super-
power status will mean for the People’s Republic of China as a nation as
well as the impact of its new-found influence on the Asia-Pacific region
and the global international order at large. By providing a venue for excit-
ing and ground-breaking titles, the aim of this series is to explore the
domestic and international implications of China’s rise and transforma-
tion through a number of key areas including politics, development and
foreign policy. The series will also give a strong voice to non-western per-
spectives on China’s rise in order to provide a forum that connects and
compares the views of academics from both the east and west reflecting
the truly international nature of the discipline.
6 Lobbying Tools 123
9 Conclusion 227
Index 239
v
List of Abbreviations
vii
viii List of Abbreviations
xi
List of Tables
xiii
CHAPTER 1
tinational corporations and other economic actors did not readily make
concessions regarding their investments and commitments to the Chinese
government. As a result, the Chinese government had to engage with its
new partners, meet certain demands, and at times even give up control.
Compared to the centralised market economy under communist rule, a
new environment began to emerge.
The power of Western companies to influence policy should not be
underestimated. European and US companies have always aimed to cre-
ate the best possible market conditions in China. Soon enough, European
and US interest groups started to lobby in China on behalf of Western
companies, and they were motivated to join forces across sectors to cre-
ate a strong voice for European and US companies. This development is
remarkable when considering that foreign industry associations are actu-
ally illegal in China (Kennedy, 2009).
China’s political system involves repressing potential threats to politi-
cal power (Dickson, 2008, p. 2). Government officials can restrict or
control business on many levels; for example, by enforcing certain laws
and regulations more strictly on some companies rather than others
(Sanyal & Guvenli, 2001). Western companies are, of course, aware
of this power. In order to avoid such unfavourable treatment, Western
companies turned to European and US interest groups to lobby on their
behalf. Collectively confronting the Chinese government has strategic
advantages. Instead of a single company lobbying, Western interest
groups represent one collective opinion vis-à-vis the Chinese govern-
ment, which prevents it from singling out one company in an attempt
to repress oppositional voices. Although China’s economic pluralisa-
tion has resulted in growing efforts by Chinese companies to influence
policy-making, many Chinese interest groups operate under the gov-
ernment’s strict control (Hsu & Hasmath, 2013a; Oksenberg, 2002;
Unger, 2008b) in a political system that requires them to relinquish
autonomy in exchange for access to government institutions (Kennedy,
2009). It is still common practice for government-appointed officials
to be placed in Chinese interest groups to exert control. Therefore,
Chinese groups struggle to actively influence China’s policy-making
process. As a result, lobbying in China is a delicate issue for domestic
and foreign actors alike. The government finds it difficult to publicly
admit that interest groups play a vital role in the policy-making process
(Kennedy, p. 196). Chinese companies do not expect interest groups to
actively confront the government on issues they would like to address.
INTRODUCING WESTERN LOBBYING TO CHINA 3
(Cawson, 1986; Schmitter, 1974). In his 1974 essay ‘Still the Century of
Corporatism’, Philippe Schmitter defines corporatism:
statistical methods to interpret the data. Within the qualitative case stud-
ies, a variable-oriented design is applied and data on lobbying actions are
then selected. This data are analysed with basic statistics in order to sort
through the large data set, following Della Porta and Keating’s advice to
shift to variable-oriented research (Della Porta & Keating, 2008, p. 212).
Furthermore, by virtue of statistical comparisons, data is coded for
attempts to abstract and test explanatory variables. In contrast, qualitative
methods allow a deeper analysis of Western lobbying, delivering a com-
plete picture. Using deductive research methods like explorative inter-
views and document studies allowed the retrieval of new information in an
attempt to place Western lobbying in China in the framework of interest
representation. As the number of Western interest groups that lobby in
the open remains small, only qualitative research methods are able to give
insights into the selected case studies.
Information was collected on the date of the initiative, the type of action
(such as a meeting or briefing), target entity of the action, and country
in which the lobbying action occurred. The lobbying action could target
US or EU policymakers, US or EU policymakers and members, Chinese
policymakers and members, Chinese policymakers, Chinese and US poli-
cymakers, Chinese and US policymakers and members, and lastly just
their own members. For example, the lobbying action ‘Working Group
invites Members of the Directorate General for Trade of the European
Commission to discuss indigenous innovation policy’ targets EU policy-
makers and members, because both are invited to the event. In contrast,
the lobbying action ‘EUCCC meets with Vice Premier WU Yi’ targets
only Chinese policymakers rather than ‘Chinese policymakers and
members’ because the main aim of this meeting is to articulate concerns
directly to officials.
In a first step, the data are simply documented without any attempt
to draw conclusions or interpret the action. In a second step, the docu-
mented lobbying actions are coded into established categories in order to
compare and analyse the lobbying actions of all three chambers, a process
for which it is crucial to use the same criteria. A debriefing meeting, for
example, falls in the category of briefing, while a lobby letter falls into
the category of letter. After the lobbying actions are sorted and clustered
into groups, it is determined whether the actions fall into the outside or
inside lobbying category. The actions are ranked by frequency across the
entire time period with the aim of analysing the distribution. Accordingly,
some actions are applied more frequently than others. In order to sum-
INTRODUCING WESTERN LOBBYING TO CHINA 9
marise changes in frequency over time, the lobbying actions are listed and
categorised by year.
interest groups in China have to search for other ways to shape economic
policies.
Chapter 3 on trade barriers provides an analysis of China’s indigenous
innovation policy campaign —a set of policies aimed at moving China’s
economy up the production chain. It argues that the Chinese government
have adjusted some indigenous innovation policies due to pressure by
Western interest groups. The lobbying success of Western interest groups
shows that they have greater leverage to exert influence than their Chinese
counterparts. This chapter not only provides in-depth information on
China’s strategies for how to stimulate high-end exports, but it also shows
how policy is being established and the reaction of international busi-
ness. China’s indigenous innovation campaign has drawn a great deal of
attention from political scientists, business people, politicians, and other
practitioners in the EU, the US, and China.
Chapter 4 on China’s corporatist state puts lobbying into a theoreti-
cal context while providing insights into different practices for managing
state–society relations in the EU, the US, and China. The guiding theme is
that lobbying in Western societies takes place in a democratic-pluralist set-
ting, whereas lobbying in China is constrained by state-corporatist mecha-
nisms. The central argument is that Chinese interest groups engage with
the Chinese state in a corporatist environment whereas Western interest
groups are able to discover pluralist avenues of cooperation in China. This
argument also supports the hypothesis that Western and Chinese interest
groups are very different entities whose lobbying tools are not equivalent.
However, this chapter provides a detailed analysis of China’s state–society
relations in comparison to the EU and US systems, demonstrating how,
in China, conflict is viewed as a threat to societal harmony. This, in turn,
means that Chinese and Western groups alike need to ensure that the
Chinese government does not perceive lobbying actions as a threat to
society.
Chapter 5 provides empirical data on Western interest representation in
China, including a detailed comparative analysis on EU, US, and Chinese
interest groups. It suggests that while the corporatist model influences
the organisational structure of Chinese interest groups, Western groups
are organised along pluralist lines even within China’s state-corporatist
system. This leads to the assumption that they are less constrained in their
lobbying actions.
Chapter 6 provides a comprehensive overview of different kinds of
lobbying strategies and techniques. The main argument is that Chinese
INTRODUCING WESTERN LOBBYING TO CHINA 11
lobbying strategies are not a suitable yardstick for assessing Western lob-
bying in China. As a result, EU and US lobbying strategies serve as ref-
erence points. This chapter serves two purposes. First, it draws out the
implications of data analysis and, second, it provides insights into lobbying
tools in the EU and the US in comparison with Western groups in China.
Chapter 7 applies the previously developed framework by providing an
analysis of Western lobbying techniques. Thus, explanatory variables on
lobbying strategies of Western interest groups are developed and hypoth-
eses on lobbying strategies are formulated. It provides information on
how numerous independent variables influence the lobbying strategies of
Western interest groups in China.
Chapter 8 provides detailed information regarding Western lobbying
power and shows how and why Western interest groups apply a multitude
of lobbying strategies. Moreover, it provides insights on Western pluralist
elements in China’s state-corporatist system and thus maps Western lob-
bying power with China’s political environment.
The concluding chapter 9 brings together the partial results provided
in each chapter on the lobbying strategies of Western interest groups
in China. It shows that (i) Western interest groups use American and
European lobbying practices in China; (ii) they are truly bottom-up driven
organisations (iii), they do not apply confronting strategies, (iv) they shift
the policy interest from Chinese- to Western policy-makers and (V) they
introduce pluralist avenues into China’s state-corporatist system.
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CHAPTER 2
2.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter describes aspects of the political systems in China, the EU,
and the US, exploring how the political environment impacts lobbying
behaviour. The structure of political influence over the policy process gives
momentum to lobbying (Yadav, 2008). This chapter illustrates differences
in the policy-making procedures and shows access points for interest
groups in each system. Revealing the underlying forces and mechanisms
in political systems is crucial because the structure of political institutions
impacts on which lobbying tactics interest groups might utilise (Mahoney,
2007). Successfully lobbying the Chinese government requires different
measures than those used in the EU and the US. Western interest groups
have more autonomy compared to the Chinese system where access is
somewhat constrained. China does provide structured access, but the
institutional set-up for lobbying is not yet mature.
Policy-making is complex, not only in China but also in the US and
the EU. This chapter does not provide a complete overview of policy-
making procedures in all three countries; rather, it introduces each system
with respect to lobbying and access points for Western business interests.
Which actors can engage in the policy process and how much autonomy
interest groups have varies considerably between the political systems. In
contrast to the Chinese system, the US political system is non-hierarchi-
cal with policy initiatives coming from multiple directions. The EU has
vertical and horizontal divisions of power, which also creates various access
points. Even within a system, the policy issue determines the extent to
which groups are able to influence the process.
This chapter also highlights the different institutional and non-
institutional access points for Western interest groups in China. It outlines
how the government is organised at a local level, reviewing centre–local
relationships and how these affect interest groups’ lobbying work. Before
turning to the policy process, all three political systems are explained. The
EU and the US political systems are included, because Western interest
groups can opt for an international lobbying route (Greenwood, 1997).
This means that they can turn to their home governments in an attempt
to shape China’s business environment.
This chapter starts by describing the policy process before the political
systems and policy-making access points in China, the EU, and the US
are explained. The final part briefly compares interest group access in all
three systems.
• Agenda setting
• Policy formulation
• Policy decision-making
• Policy implementation
• Policy evaluation (Wallace et al., 2010)
In any political system, the number of issues vying for the government’s
attention is endless. Yet, government resources for addressing all of the
POLICY-MAKING COMPARED: CHINA, THE EU, AND THE US 17
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