Anti‐corruption as a Form of Governance? Balancing Growth and Risk in China's Financial Markets

This article examines how anti‐corruption campaigns function as unconventional instruments for regulating financial markets in emerging economies, where rapid market expansion often creates opportunities for dubious financial practices. Drawing on an original dataset of 393 investigations into alleged misconduct by personnel in China's financial sector and more than 500 court and media reports issued between 2013 and 2023, the study demonstrates that anti‐corruption campaigns initiated by Chinese authorities have increasingly been used to curb opportunistic behaviour, contain financial and social risk and address the exclusionary dynamics associated with financialization. Rather than codifying new rules or launching sector‐wide crackdowns, authorities have relied on targeted investigations that generate a chilling effect on specific financial practices without fundamentally undermining the growth of China's financial sector. Through the lens of anti‐corruption, the article draws attention to governance practices that fall outside conventional regulatory repertoires, revealing them as pragmatic, patchwork solutions for managing market expansion. By highlighting the unexpected role of anti‐corruption as a form of economic and moral regulation, this article contributes to our understanding of institutional adaptation in emerging economies and the ways in which states navigate the tension between corruption and growth.