Reconciling the Chinese Financial Development with its Economic Growth : A Discursive Essay

Abstract

Focused on the case of China’s financial development, the present discursive essay sets out to argue that if the Chinese financial system distorted the allocation of funds then economic growth could not be sustained and financial depth would remain deficient. The essay puts forward selected financial facts and policies, discusses their relevance in the particular context of China’s economic development goals and concludes that although the Chinese financial system is not developed according to the standards of industrialized countries, financial intermediation has nevertheless been efficient in terms of promoting savings and credit to the extent that might have been good enough to facilitate economic growth. Furthermore, in order to reconcile China’s financial efficiency-growth apparent paradox, the essay supports the view that analyzing China’s financial system using market-based standards may not be valid.