New Books in Technology Daniela Stockmann and Ting Luo, "Governing Digital China" (Cambridge UP, 2025)
Feb 11, 2026
Ting Luo, an expert in platform governance and AI policy, and Daniela Stockmann, a professor of digital governance, explore China's distinctive digital control model. They discuss popular corporatism, how major platforms partner with the state, the split between commercial and political social credit, data-sharing limits, and how competition and procurement shape governance.
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Popular Corporatism Explains China's Model
- China practices "popular corporatism," where the state, platforms, and citizens form a negotiated governance triangle rather than pure command-and-control.
- Platforms balance state demands and user needs because they depend on citizen participation for data and business value.
Social Credit Is Two Systems, Not One
- Chinese social credit includes distinct commercial and political strands that overlap but are not one unified national score.
- Commercial credit (e.g., Sesame, WeChatPoint) aids market functions, while political/local systems remain separate and fragmented.
Fragmentation Limits A Single Panopticon
- Despite fears, researchers found little evidence that Tencent's social and payment data are fully merged into a political control database.
- Competition and fragmentation among firms reduce the likelihood of a single omnipotent national score.
