How to Join Party's Salon: A Guide for Entrepreneurs in China
SECTOR ▸ RESEARCH ▸ PAPERAbstract
This paper studies the strategies and mechanisms through which entrepreneurs in China are selected into regime institutions, aiming to reveal the underlying processes and implications.
@unpublished{lee2026salon,
title={How to Join Party's Salon: A Guide for Entrepreneurs in China},
author={Lee, Chiahsin},
year={2026},
note={Working paper},
url={https://chiahsinlee.github.io/research/party-salon-china/}
}Research question
Why do some private entrepreneurs enter the NPC, CPPCC, or party-linked business associations while others remain outside? Selection is rarely random — firm size, sector, and prior political exposure all shape the pathway.
Data
Roster data on entrepreneurs in regime-linked institutions, combined with interviews on participation pathways. Field notes from Beijing (April 2026) inform the current draft’s description of director-level entry routes.
Approach
Maps the institutional “salon” channels that absorb entrepreneurs into the regime, documenting selection criteria and the sequence of entry rather than treating membership as a binary treatment.
Status
Working paper. Draft available on request while the PDF is prepared for hosting.