CREDIT, STATE AND TERRITORY: SPECIFICITIES OF THE CHINESE FINANCIAL SYSTEM IN RELATION TO THE NEOLIBERAL MODEL

especificidades do sistema financeiro chinês frente ao modelo neoliberal

Abstract

This article analyzes the Chinese financial system and highlights its differences in relation to the neoliberal model. It is guided by the central question: how is the Chinese financial system structured and how does it function, and to what extent does this arrangement differ from the prevailing model in Western economies? Regarding methodology, the study adopts a qualitative and quantitative historical approach, based on specialized literature, with emphasis on the works China in Transformation: Economic and Geopolitical Dimensions of Development (IPEA, 2015) and The Dragon’s Finances: The Chinese Financial System (Azevedo, 2024). The article demonstrates that the Chinese financial system operates as a mechanism of economic and territorial planning, in which credit is directed toward strategic sectors. It argues that analyses grounded in complex models of institutional efficiency are insufficient to understand this arrangement, since they assess Chinese banks according to parameters derived from the neoliberal paradigm and from a fragmented notion of totality, disregarding their systemic and public functions. It concludes that the Chinese case highlights the centrality of the State and the territorial function of credit as fundamental elements for understanding development processes.