Risks in the financialization of Chinese cities

This paper uses an analytical framework named “the political economy of risk” to investigate the financial and political risks in the state-led financialization of Chinese cities. By highlighting the social construction of risks, this paper enriches the understanding of their categories and types, how they simultaneously cause and result from financialization, and how risk distribution and calculation reflect governance and power. The findings show that the Chinese government created or reduced financial risks to manage political risks. Power asymmetry existed between government levels and between the government and private financial intermediaries, affecting the distribution and calculation of risks.