Foreign Firms Lobbying for Liberalisation

Abstract

Foreign firms as external actors in the Chinese financial markets have been portrayed in the previous chapters as mere rule-takers, facing a restrictive regulatory framework that heavily restrains their market participation and scope of business. However, commercial players usually do not perceive themselves to be receivers of regulation only, but instead actively influence the process in their interest, both in developed countries and emerging market economies (EMEs) (Hellman, Jones and Kaufmann, 2002a; Rajan and Zingales, 2003a).¹¹³ Interestingly, Hellmann, Jones and Kaufmann found that regulatory capture abroad is over-proportionally pursued by foreign firms offering financial services.¹¹⁴ This chapter sets out to complement the analysis focused on the business strategies and market conduct of foreign financial firms with an assessment of foreign firms’ impact on market development through their lobbying for changes in regulation. In looking at foreign firms from this angle, the chapter acknowledges the role of industry players in regulatory policy-making in China. This chapter investigates the ways in which foreign financial firms identifiably lobby Chinese regulators in their interest and explores the channels and patterns of foreign financial firms’ interest representation that have emerged.¹¹⁵