Why has the Chinese regime been resilient in the most populous country in the world? Based on survey data collected from five large Chinese cities, this study finds that a majority of Chinese urban residents show a certain degree of support for the current political regime and do not favor fundamental regime change. This diffuse regime support is largely determined by satisfaction with government performance in a number of policy areas that affect people's daily lives.
Urban China always plays important political role in contemporary Chinese history. Urban residents, especially in provincial capital cities, are better educated and live in political, economic and social centers in China. Their support is indispensable for the current government in China. Utilizing a large-scale survey data this study explores sources of subjective evaluation of local municipal government policy performance among Chinese urban residents in ten large Chinese cities. Descriptively, this study finds moderate satisfaction with city government performance among Chinese urbanites, which seems to lend support to Chinese government's performance-based political legitimacy and explains relative political stability in China. Analytically, it is found that, while perceived public participation in municipal policy-making process, perceived government transparency, and personal life satisfaction increase Chinese urban residents' positive evaluation of government performance, perceived official corruption, democratic orientation and level of political interest lead to negative evaluation of government performance among Chinese urbanites.
