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High Wire

Overview

  • Provides an in-depth analysis of the three key areas of platform regulation in China including antitrust, data and labor enforcement

  • Examines the shrewd self-regulatory schemes employed by Chinese tech titans and their co-regulation with the State

  • Compares Chinese tech regulation with the rapidly evolving regulatory landscape in the United States and the European Union

  • Offers a prediction of China's future tech governance, with a special focus on artificial intelligence 

  • Introduces a new analytical framework to study the dynamic complexity in Chinese regulatory governance

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Description

In High Wire, Angela Zhang provides a comprehensive and sophisticated overview of how China regulates its enormous tech sector. By closely scrutinizing the incentives and interactions among the key players, Zhang introduces a dynamic pyramid model to analyze the structure, process, and outcome of China's unique regulatory system. She showcases the shrewd self-regulatory tactics employed by Chinese tech titans to survive and thrive in an institutional environment plagued by endemic fraud and corruption. She also reveals how the Chinese State has given a helping hand to digital platforms by offering them indispensable judicial support.

Through a robust analysis of the tumultuous 2020-2022 tech crackdown, Zhang explores the model's profound impact on three vital pillars of Chinese platform regulation, including antitrust, data, and labor enforcement. As Zhang demonstrates, the tech crackdown has led to the private sector's retreat and the state's advancement in the tech industry. These regulatory shifts have also steered investors from consumer tech businesses toward hardcore technologies that are essential for China's bid to overtake the United States in innovation.

More than just a study of China, Zhang offers a global perspective by comparing China's regulatory landscape with rapidly moving developments in the United States and the European Union. This comparative analysis reveals the shared regulatory challenges all face and sheds light on the future direction of Chinese tech regulation. Finally, she 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 interested in how the manifold ways in which China regulates and governs its economy.

Reviews and Endorsements



"Zhang's ‘High Wire’ is the single best book for those who need to understand China's regulation of its tech markets--both what has happened, and what will happen.An essential and comprehensive resource in an area where overly simplistic understandings have too often led outsiders astray."
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Tim Wu
Former Special Assistant to President Biden for Technology and Competition Policy, 2021-2023 and Author of "The Master Switch, The Rise and Fall of Information Empire

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Events

March 13, 2024

Asia Society France/ Online

March 14, 2024

Algorithm, Law, Policy Working Group/ Online

March 18, 2024

Singapore Management University/ Singapore 

March 19, 2024

National Singapore University/ Singapore 

March 20, 2024

Chinese University of Hong Kong/ Hong Kong

March 21, 2024

Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong/ Hong Kong

March 22, 2024

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology/ Hong Kong

March 22, 2024

City University of Hong Kong/ Hong Kong

March 25, 2024

University of Tokyo/ Tokyo

March 25, 2024

Japan Fair Trade Commission/ Tokyo

March 29, 2024

University of Kyoto/  Kyoto

April 1, 2024

Berkeley Law School/ Berkeley

April 1, 2024

Stanford Law School/ Palo Alto

April 3, 2024

Harvard University/ Boston

April 4, 2024

George Washington University/ Washington DC

April 4, 2024

Annual Meeting of American Society of International Law/ Washington DC

April 8, 2024

Center for Strategic and International Studies/ Online

April 8, 2024

US-China & the World Dinner Series/ Washington DC

April 9, 2024

Georgetown Law School/ Washington DC

April 11, 2024

Cornell Law School/ Ithaca

April 15, 2024

NYU School of Law/ New York

April 16, 2024

Yale Law School/ New Haven

April 17, 2024

Columbia Law School/ New York

April 18, 2024

University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School/ Philadelphia

April 22, 2024

Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong/ Hong Kong

April 23, 2024

Asia Society/ Hong Kong

April 24, 2024

Asia Global Institute, The University of Hong Kong/ Hong Kong

April 29, 2024

London School of Economics and Political Science/ London

April 29, 2024

University College London/ London

April 30, 2024

King’s College London/ London

April 30, 2024

London Business School/ London

May 1, 2024

Socio-Legal Studies Centre, Oxford University/ Oxford

May 1, 2024

Oxford Internet Institute, Oxford University/ Oxford

May 6, 2024

University of Sydney/ Camperdown

May 7, 2024

University of New South Wales/ Sydney

May 8, 2024

Australia National University/ Canberra

May 9, 2024

University of Melbourne/ Parkville

May 24, 2024

Hong Kong Competition Commission/ Hong Kong

May 30, 2024

Centre on Regulation in Europe/ Brussels

June 4-5, 2024

IAPP Conference/ Brussels

June 4, 2024

Center for European Policy Studies/ Brussels

June 6, 2024

Bruegel/ Brussels

June 6, 2024

Leuven AI Law & Ethics Conference, University of Leuven/ Leuven

June 10, 2024

European Council on Foreign Relations/ Berlin

June 11, 2024

Aspen Institute Spain/ Madrid

June 14, 2024

European University Institute/ Florence

June 17-18, 2024

Florence Digitalization Summer Conference/ Florence

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