Mapping the investor state: state-led financialization in accelerating technological innovation in China

The 'investor state' concept posits that state-led financialization in China extends beyond mere ownership rights of the states in financial markets. Surveying the 'investor state', we outline how evolving state-led financialization facilitates technological innovation in China. The article elucidates this shift and maps out how three empirical terrains are interconnected to bolster an emerging innovation-driven growth regime: (1) state-owned enterprises, transitioning from 'asset management' to 'capital management'; (2) state-led banks, shifting from loan-insurance linkages to investment-banking linkages; and (3) local governments, important touchpoints of central-level industrial policies, where we observe the shift from land-backed finance to accelerate urbanization projects towards government guidance funds to finance local tech ventures. The study finds that China has repurposed state-led financialization to integrate technological innovation into its economic development plans, within which we see the takeup of state-building capacities in 'financial entrepreneurship'.