One of the most distinctive features of the Chinese political system is central government’s perennial struggle to ensure local compliance with national policy. Since the start of "Reform and Opening" in 1978, the distribution of fiscal and administrative power among China's central and local governments has fluctuated, but despite enormous changes in China’s political system in the decades since Mao’s death, local governments continue to evade or subvert central policies. As President Xi Jinping’s ongoing anti-corruption campaign suggests, the gap between central and local interests, and the constraint this gap places on the state’s ability to govern effectively, remain fundamental concerns for China’s leaders today....
