China’s economy is at a crossroads, facing its most significant challenges in recent memory. Amidst this economic turmoil, a fierce debate has emerged among leading experts: is the current economic downturn a result of ingrained structural issues, excessive state intervention, or escalating geopolitical tensions?

In this book talk, Professor Angela Zhang will offer a fresh perspective, steering the conversation towards the distinct model of China’s regulatory governance. Drawing insights from her newly released book, High Wire: How China Regulates Big Tech and Governs Its Economy, Professor Zhang will introduce the ‘Dynamic Pyramid Model’ to demystify the complexity in Chinese regulation and its enormous impact on the Chinese economy. Through this lens, she will explain the consistent regulatory pattern in some of the biggest policy challenges China has faced in recent years, including tech regulation, the covid-19 pandemic control, the energy crisis in 2021, the ongoing property crack down and China’s demographic crisis. This discussion aims to shed light on the political logic underpinning China’s regulatory policies, while also identifying potential pathways toward economic revival.

Angela Zhang is an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Hong Kong and Director of the Philip K. H. Wong Center for Chinese Law.