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In High Wire, Angela Zhang provides a comprehensive and sophisticated overview of how China regulates its enormous tech sector. By focusing on two clashing imperatives--the need to spur innovation and maintain tight regime control--Zhang sheds new light on the structure, process, and potential consequences of China's unique regulatory system. The book also showcases the shrewd self-regulatory tactics employed by Chinese tech titans who have to navigate the party-state's complex and often confounding regulatory system.

Through a robust case study of the tumultuous 2020-2022 tech crackdown, this book explores the model's profound impact on three vital pillars of Chinese platform regulation, including antitrust, data, and labor enforcement. As Zhang shows, the Chinese state's tech crackdown has led to the private sector's retreat and the state's advancement in that sector. And given the difficulty of controlling "soft tech," China's has placed more emphasis on expanding its "hard tech"--the engineering and machinery that undergirds soft tech--in recent times.

More than just a study of China, the book also adopts a global perspective by comparing China's regulatory landscape with the rapidly moving regulatory developments in the United States and the European Union. This comparative analysis reveals shared regulatory challenges and provides valuable insights into the future trajectory of China's approach to the tech sector. Moreover, it peers into the future of China's tech governance, specifically focusing on the burgeoning realm of generative artificial intelligence.

Providing an unparalleled deep-dive into China's rapidly evolving digital economy, High Wire is a must-read for those intrigued by the dynamic complexity in China's regulatory governance.