Book review: <i>The Gilded Cage: Technology, Development, and State Capitalism in China</i> by Ya-Wen Lei

In Ya-Wen Lei’s The Gilded Cage: Technology, Development, and State Capitalism in China, we delve into a journey that transformed China’s economy and society, a journey spanning from the era of Chen Yun to the current leadership under Xi Jinping. From the mid-2000s onward, China has progressively pivoted away from labour intensive, export-oriented manufacturing towards a socioeconomic development model anchored in science and technology. Lei meticulously delineates the contours of this techno-developmental paradigm and the resultant emergence of techno-state capitalism, narrating the experiences of individuals whose lives have been profoundly altered– both positively and negatively– by China’s swift ascent to economic and technological pre-eminence.