ABSTRACT
Governance and politics in China can be difficult to understand for both insiders and outsiders. This chapter argues that Chinese governing institutions are unique and should be studied on their own terms, instead of assuming what they could or should be. Scholarly discussions of governance and politics in China often revolve around tensions between centralisation and decentralisation, plan and market, local and national levels, rural and urban environments, or industrial and agricultural settings. Governance of the energy sector is high-level politics in China. Li points out that all the members of China’s Politburo Standing Committee, as well as several previous members, have important links to the energy sector. Another source of China’s fragmentation of authority and influence are the state-owned enterprises, which have gained increased autonomy through the period characterised by decentralisation, deregulation and reform since 1978.
