The case of privatisation in China’s hospital sector: Neoliberalisation under state capitalism

Privatisation of previously public industries and services is part of the ideological shift associated with the global neoliberal turn of the past 40 years. This article examines such a change within the healthcare system in China: specifically, the formation and development of a private hospital sector, which by 2015 surpassed the number of public hospitals for the first time. We draw on documentary and interview-based data, both English-language and Chinese-language to examine the privatisation process in this setting. We show that while the re-establishment of the private hospital sector in China followed a relatively well-trodden path wherein government policy shifts to sanction private-for-profit sector growth in the social sectors, several context-specific features reflect China’s contemporary state capitalism as the Chinese state has chosen to actively direct infrastructure formation in the private hospital sector and finance it through state-owned enterprises and investments. Our analysis demonstrates the importance of approaches to studying social policy that build nuanced understanding of public-private relations and state restructuring, and how these materialise in different settings.