Plunder and paradiplomacy: the corruption of China's decentralised state in Yunnan province

In: China: CIJ ; an international journal, Volume 18, Issue 2, p. 77-98

Abstract

This article conducts an investigation into Yunnan province to study the risks and opportunities associated with two institutional changes that have reshaped contemporary China: the decentralisation of power from the centre to provinces and the emerging agency of provinces in China's increasingly multilayered foreign policy. These changes have enabled Yunnan to develop a bridgehead strategy that positions the province as an economic corridor to the markets of Southeast Asia. While this has succeeded in fostering economic development, it has also created a complex set of transnational links that has contributed to the obstruction of central supervision, enabling local leaders to engage in regionalised corruption on a scale that has outpaced other Chinese provinces. (China/GIGA)