Subsuming Chinese Business Elites Into the Party's Fold
The Subtle Strategies of the United Front Work Department
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6041064 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Zhu Zhang (0000-0002-5615-8494, Fairfield University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Publication date | 2025-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Asian Politics & Policy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1943-0787 • E-ISSN: 1943-0779 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/aspp.70022 |
| OpenAlex | W4411834232 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 36 |
How does an authoritarian regime incorporate economic elites during market transitions while retaining political control? This article analyzes the strategies of China's United Front Work Department (UFWD) in politically integrating private business elites amid the shift to a socialist market economy. Based on 56 in‐depth interviews and a biographical data set of the top 500 Chinese billionaires, the study shows how the UFWD acts as an adaptive institutional mechanism—deploying recognition, intermediaries, appointments, and training—to embed entrepreneurs into Party‐sanctioned roles. The findings reveal a structured co‐optation process rooted in utility, loyalty, and representativeness, enabling the CCP to leverage elite resources while minimizing political risk. By illuminating how the Party incorporates powerful actors without relinquishing control, the paper contributes to broader debates on authoritarian resilience, elite co‐optation, and institutional adaptation under nondemocratic regimes
Economics · Fold (higher-order function · Front (military · Geography · Management · Meteorology · Political science · Politics · United front · Work (physics · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Engineering · Labor Movements and Unions · Law · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy · Mechanical Engineering
Authoritarianism in an Age of Democratization
Wealth into Power
China’s New Business Elite
Allies of the State
Voting for Autocracy
China’s Crony Capitalism
The Politics of Authoritarian Rule
Red Capitalists in China
The Business of Lobbying in China
Democracy and the Market
Managing Transitions
Ordering Power
Competitive Authoritarianism
The Diaspora
A “New Social Class” or Old Friends? A Study of Private Entrepreneurs in the National People's Congress of China
Regime Inclusion and the Resilience of Authoritarianism
Vote Buying and Land Takings in China’s Village Elections
From Economic Elites to Political Elites
Who Represents? Xi Jinping’s Grand United Front Work, Legitimation, Participation and Consultative Democracy
One Team, Two Nameplates
Elections Without Democracy
China's Changing of the Guard
Selective Policy Implementation in Rural China
Authoritarian Institutions and the Survival of Autocrats
Wealthy-gentry politics
The Returns to Office in a "Rubber Stamp" Parliament
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |