There is a growing perception in China that the largest state-owned enterprises are expanding at the expense of the private sector, slowing or even reversing a trend toward greater economic liberalization that has been the hallmark of China’s economic policy for the last three decades. Known popularly in China as guojin mintui or “the state advances and the private sector retreats,” this apparent enhancement of state monopolies has in recent months been fiercely debated in Beijing. With wide-reaching implications for China’s economic development, guojin mintui is of immediate concern to domestic and foreign private companies – but there is not yet a consensus as to whether this represents a long-term trend or merely a natural, and temporary, result of China’s massive investment in infrastructure projects as part of its post-financial crisis stimulus plan.

On March 1, the John L. Thornton China Center at Brookings will host a discussion of the recent trends in China’s powerful state sector and their implications. Panelists will include Daniel Rosen of the Rhodium Group; Zhiwu Chen of Yale University; and John Garnaut, China correspondent with the Sydney Morning Herald.

Senior Fellow Kenneth Lieberthal, director of the John L. Thornton China Center, will provide introductory remarks and moderate the discussion. After the program, the panelists will take audience questions.