Introduction

This chapter introduces the project’s puzzle, and outlines the central arguments and methods of study. After the country’s accession to the WTO in 2001, there had been much expectation that China’s capital markets would gradually integrate with the global financial system. The hopes, however, were mostly not realized as anticipated. Financial liberalization showed marked unevenness across different market segments. Pauses and reversals of opening initiatives were not uncommon. This study makes sense of the trajectory of China’s financial opening through political analysis of the domestic policy drivers and mechanisms.