Deconstruct 'the state': Complex Entrepreneurialism in Urbanizing China

To what extent does "state entrepreneurialism" fit China's urbanization profile? This article revisits the debate about state and market in urban studies. It critically examines the ostensible institutional unity of the Chinese state and unfolds the complexities of entrepreneurialism urban governance in China. The author argues that "state entrepreneurialism" does not adequately encapsulate the corporate-style intergovernmental interactions and ambiguous government-business relations. Market has become an ideology that extensively influences China's intergovernmental relations and development policies. Only at exceptional periods, such as catastrophes and crisis outbreaks, does entrepreneurialism governance take a back seat to other priorities. The paper concludes that urban governance in China should be considered as complex and unsettled with actually existing interaction and conflict between divided self-interested officials and private business actors. It then discusses four fractured spatial forms that are both the arenas and the consequences of complex entrepreneurial governance.