GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION ? A CASE STUDY OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDSUTRY IN CHINA

Abstract: The roles of government have long been discussed in economic development. Rather than discussing the existence of government intervention in China's telecommunications industry, the thesis was to identify how the government actually intervened to help bolster the industry. The research question is in what ways did the Chinese government intervene to promote its telecommunications industry? To address the question, a case study was employed focusing on the development of China's telecommunications industry. The thesis mainly examined how the government stepped in the industry in three perspectives ? foreign investment, structural reform and technological development since China's opening up in 1978. The data was collected through rigorous archival information studies and complemented with interviews. An observation was found in the case that strong government intervention in the three aspects contributed a lot to the development of China's telecommunications industry. Therefore, a conclusion can be drawn that the success of the country's telecommunications industry could be attained by effective government intervention in the three major aspects 1) foreign investment; 2) structural reforms and 3) technological development.