ABSTRACT
Since the late 1970s, the Chinese government has begun its economic reform after the adoption of the Open Door Policy as advocated by the late leader Deng Xiaoping. After four decades of economic development, China becomes the second largest economy and has also emerged as a global power. However, the economic reforms initiated since the late 1970s have also caused different forms of socio-economic problems, especially leading to a widening income gap, social and economic inequalities, as well regional disparities that are intensified. This chapter sets out against the wider political economy context briefly above to critically examine how the Chinese government has made serious attempts in expanding its social welfare provision and social service enhancement to promote social cohesion. This chapter compares and contrasts the different interpretations of “social cohesion” and “social harmony” between the Chinese regime and her Western (especially European) counterparts. This chapter discusses how the Chinese Communist Party has attempted to secure institutional trust from the citizens through its efforts to assert performance legitimacy. Playing the role as an adaptive entrepreneurial state in addressing compressed development, the Chinese government tries to maintain social cohesion interpreted in the Chinese version of social harmony through enhancing social welfare provision and social service delivery.
