Electricity is a basic requirement for a modern economy, and transmission grids at the center of transition to a low-carbon power system. They are the principal means to integrate large shares of wind and solar power and they are essential to ensuring a secure and reliable electricity supply. Grid companies around the world are struggling to find their niche in this transition. The State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) is one of the principal players in this round of global competition. Central state-owned enterprise (SOEs), such as SGCC, continue to hold the 'commanding heights' of the Chinese economy. Their relationship with the Party-state is crucial to understanding the questions of whether SOEs take orders from, and do the bidding of, the Chinese Communist Party, and how they operate under the state ownership and with a wide range of operational autonomy and expectation that they are profit-maximazing corporations.
This book examines the origin, development and expansion of SGCC, the world's largest utility company and the 7th largest corporation. By telling both the electricity story and the SOE story, it provides insights into the challenges facing the grids and their possible futures. It challenges the orthodox account of Chinese politics that portrays SOEs as little more than puppets, jumping to every demand of the Party-state. It shows that SGCC has been built into a modern corporation by entrepreneurial managers. By extending its operation to four continents, SGCC is now a global player, competing with its peers and also having its input in the future low-carbon electricity system.
This book challenges the popular interpretation of Chinese government. Piling detail on detail, it provides a comprehensive picture of Chinese political economy that is both new and utterly convincing.
By:
Xu Yi-chong (Professor Professor School of Government and International Relations Griffith University Australia) Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc Country of Publication: United States Dimensions:
Height: 157mm,
Width: 236mm,
Spine: 33mm
Weight: 612g ISBN:9780190279523 ISBN 10: 0190279524 Pages: 360 Publication Date:09 February 2017 Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format:Hardback Publisher's Status: Active
Chapter 1: Politics of the State Grid Corporation of China Chapter 2: Electricity Chapter 3: From the Ministry to a Corporation Chapter 4: Overseeing SGCC: The Contested Regimes of Central Agencies Chapter 5: State Grid Corporation of China Chapter 6: SGCC in Action: as a Policy Entrepreneur Chapter 7: SGCC in Action: as Technology Innovator Chapter 8: SGCC in Action: Internationalisation
Xu Yi-chong is Professor in the School of Government and International Relations at Griffith University, Australia.