Ning Leng Publishes New Book: Politicizing Business: How Firms Are Made to Serve the Party-State in China
Dr. Ning Leng, assistant professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, published a new book Politicizing Business: How Firms Are Made to Serve the Party-State in China (Cambridge University Press, 2025). On February 3, 2026, Leng partnered with the Georgetown Americas Institute for the book launch.
The book offers an in-depth examination of the relationship between the Chinese government and Chinese firms, both private and state-owned. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and original datasets from two sectors in China, Professor Leng introduces two political services that the Chinese state demands from companies: visibility projects, a common distortion of economic policies and infrastructure politics to advance government officials’ careers; and societal control, through which firms assist the state in pushing forward controversial projects. As China has become a major global investor, this book sheds light on the political incentives shaping Chinese firms’ investment behavior. Join us for a conversation on the book’s themes and insights into the Chinese private sector with Professor Leng and GAI Founding Director Alejandro Werner.
Dr. Leng specializes in the political economy of China and Global China, and the institutional effects of authoritarianism.
The book can be purchased on the Cambridge website.