Chinese Telecommunications on the Threshold of Convergence: Contexts, Possibilities, and Limitations of Forging a Domestic Demand-Based Growth Model

Abstract

Offering a historical analysis of the interconnections between China’s telecom policies and industrial development over the past three decades, this paper examines what has recently changed since the promulgation of a domestic-based economic growth model. It argues that the ambitious 3G network buildup underpins the state’s broader industrial policy to build Chinese competencies in telecommunications manufacturing — through the creation and leveraging of domestic demand. Some progress has been achieved in expanding market share and in re-organizing the supply chain across the network equipment, handset, and wireless applications markets, but these policies have yet to fully transform China’s position in global competition.