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New development: China seeks better capital investment and credit assessment

ABSTRACT In the 2018–2019 period, the Chinese government adopted three policy measures to improve the quality of decision-making in state institutions and financial markets. The first measure requires cost benefit analysis in proposing public investment projects; the second requires local governments to make extensive disclosures before they could issue debt securities; and the third allows major international rating agencies to assess the creditworthiness of Chinese local government borrowers. Together, these steps represent China’s steadfast expansion of institutional capacity and market efficiency. They are also evidence of China’s continued adaptation of Western techniques in institutional capacity building to increase global competitiveness. IMPACT In this article, the authors add to international understanding of how China improves the performance of its government and capital markets. For foreign policy-makers, especially those dealing with China directly, at the macro level this article points out the positive features of Chinese public policy-making and management, thus complementing or balancing the ideological and negative aspects often reported by the Western press. It points out that rational management is an almost invisible foundation supporting China’s current ambitious domestic development and assertive foreign policy. At the micro level, this article seeks to arouse public management scholars’ interest in Herbert Simon’s concept of procedural rationality as an explanation of seemingly mindless bureaucratic process. Readers are encouraged to test the universality of the idea, which seems to operate in Chinese government. Since time immemorial Chinese officials search for ‘latent rules’ (qianguize) to ensure personal survival or get things done.