China today has the largest communist political regime and one of the most dynamic, fastest-growing, and largest economies in the world. Using a case study of China's tobacco industry, this book analyses how the Chinese government was able to cultivate big state-owned firms that have successfully embraced the global market. The success of the Chinese economy and the many state-owned firms within it have given rise to a "Beijing Consensus," challenging almost every principle enshrined in the so-called "Washington Consensus" that espouses private ownership, free markets, and democracy. By...