ABSTRACT
There is doubtless more than a grain of truth in this description. Yet, it is insufficient to do justice to the variety of reactions Chinese bureaucrats have proved capable of in rising to the challenge of the reforms. One particular sphere where this is particularly evident is in the variety of new businesses set up by civil servants to provide additional finance for their departments. From the end of the 1980s, many government departments (and, for that matter, other service arms of the state such as schools and universities) began to establish businesses to provide alternative employment for their staff and to share their profits with the founding department. Individually, these businesses tend to be small, but a department may have several such businesses in different fields. Usually
For a long time, the Long Rainbow Television Company held a position as one of the leading television manufacturers in the country. It contributes nearly half of the total output in Mianyang, the municipality in Sichuan where it is located. However, with about 70 television set manufacturers nationwide producing 40 million television sets per year and with only half of them sold, frequent price wars have undermined the company’s profitability. In 2000, Long Rainbow’s majority shareholder, the municipal government of Mianyang, decided to replace the general manager.
