The future looks bright for China, and Chinese growth has finally captured world attention. In the midst of this growth, the telecommunications sector is the most spectacular. 73 million phone lines have been installed in the 90's, more than the rest of the developing world combined. The relevant agencies are in a constant state of competition, similar to Japanese ministries, wrestling for territory and finances. A key point of this book, Dougan emphasizes, is that privatization, while popular around the world, will be resisted in China.
China is a communist country that maintains a firm commitment to party control.
Differences are important to understand and even emphasize, but there are many similarities to be found between China and other countries, both developing and developed. While the authors shy away from predications, they are clear on their premise that Western expectations of liberalization in telecommunications are overly optimistic. The Problem of Central-Local Relations Caused by the sheer size of the Chinese market. The market is dominated by large state-owned enterprises. Privatization and State Enterprise Reform Private or quasi-private enterprises are growing along side state enterprises, instead of state enterprises being privatized.