[lbo-talk] China's growth

James Heartfield Heartfield at blueyonder.co.uk
Thu Jul 21 12:31:05 PDT 2005


Ulhas: "I never said anything about 'comprador' capitalist class. 'Comprador' is a meaningless category. Which capital doesn't make substantial contribution to indigenous development?"

No, I introduced "comprador", which might be an overextended category, but does indeed describe the Chinese merchant class that subordinated itself to foreign investment. They retreated to the margins of Chinese society (like Hong Kong and Macao), eventually transforming themselves into an expatriate class of traders scattered throughout SE Asia.

When the West was investing in China in the early 20C., the 'comprador' traders might have become an indigenous capitalist class, but the rising social conflict saw them withdraw from mainland China. None the less, I argue, this expatriate Chinese trading class today is an important source of funds for the mainland today, and China's advantage over the investment starved Russian Federation as a post-Stalinist state.

China's Comprador Capitalism is Coming Home, Review of Radical Political Economy, Vol. 37, No. 2, (2005) http://rrp.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/37/2/196



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