{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/98202"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/98202","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Tencent as a nexus: the political economy of China’s internet industry","abstract":"This dissertation examines the political economy of China’s Internet industry—a nexus of two dynamic poles of growth—China and the Internet. Specifically, through a case study of Tencent, the dissertation investigates the political-economic context within which the Chinese Internet company has grown, the ownership and control and expansion strategies of the company, and its relations with units of capital—domestic and transnational—and state entities. In doing so, the study contributes to three areas of knowledge: the political-economy theory of the Internet, the specific dynamics of China’s Internet industry and its interaction with transnational digital capitalism, and the contemporary transformation of China and the global political economy. This dissertation argues that Tencent emerged as a creation jointly of the Chinese state and transnational financial capital. On one hand, Tencent stood out under the state-driven policies that have prioritized the development of China’s information and communication technology (ICT) industry since the mid-1990s. On the other, the China-based company has been substantially transnationalized both in its capital structure and business activities. Furthermore, the expansion strategies Tencent employed—horizontal and vertical integration, diversification and transnationalization—spoke to the intrinsic trends of capitalist reproduction and the consistent features of the political economy of communications. Chinese state agencies have played crucial roles in protecting, brokering, shaping, and reshaping China’s transnational Internet industry.","abstract_html":"This dissertation examines the political economy of China’s Internet industry—a nexus of two dynamic poles of growth—China and the Internet. Specifically, through a case study of Tencent, the dissertation investigates the political-economic context within which the Chinese Internet company has grown, the ownership and control and expansion strategies of the company, and its relations with units of capital—domestic and transnational—and state entities. In doing so, the study contributes to three areas of knowledge: the political-economy theory of the Internet, the specific dynamics of China’s Internet industry and its interaction with transnational digital capitalism, and the contemporary transformation of China and the global political economy. This dissertation argues that Tencent emerged as a creation jointly of the Chinese state and transnational financial capital. On one hand, Tencent stood out under the state-driven policies that have prioritized the development of China’s information and communication technology (ICT) industry since the mid-1990s. On the other, the China-based company has been substantially transnationalized both in its capital structure and business activities. Furthermore, the expansion strategies Tencent employed—horizontal and vertical integration, diversification and transnationalization—spoke to the intrinsic trends of capitalist reproduction and the consistent features of the political economy of communications. Chinese state agencies have played crucial roles in protecting, brokering, shaping, and reshaping China’s transnational Internet industry.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Tang, Min"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Communication","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Schiller, Dan","Davis, Susan","McChesney, Robert","Zhao, Yuezhi"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-09-29T17:45:40Z","date_published":"2017-09-29T17:45:40Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:35Z","subjects":["Political economy","Internet industry","China"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2017 Min Tang"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/98202","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Schiller, Dan","Davis, Susan","McChesney, Robert","Zhao, Yuezhi"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Tang, Min"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2017-09-29T17:45:40Z","2022-03-04T10:15:15Z","2017-07-09","2017-08"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Communication"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Political economy","Internet industry","China"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2017 Min Tang"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/98202"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["This dissertation examines the political economy of China’s Internet industry—a nexus of two dynamic poles of growth—China and the Internet. Specifically, through a case study of Tencent, the dissertation investigates the political-economic context within which the Chinese Internet company has grown, the ownership and control and expansion strategies of the company, and its relations with units of capital—domestic and transnational—and state entities. In doing so, the study contributes to three areas of knowledge: the political-economy theory of the Internet, the specific dynamics of China’s Internet industry and its interaction with transnational digital capitalism, and the contemporary transformation of China and the global political economy. This dissertation argues that Tencent emerged as a creation jointly of the Chinese state and transnational financial capital. On one hand, Tencent stood out under the state-driven policies that have prioritized the development of China’s information and communication technology (ICT) industry since the mid-1990s. On the other, the China-based company has been substantially transnationalized both in its capital structure and business activities. Furthermore, the expansion strategies Tencent employed—horizontal and vertical integration, diversification and transnationalization—spoke to the intrinsic trends of capitalist reproduction and the consistent features of the political economy of communications. Chinese state agencies have played crucial roles in protecting, brokering, shaping, and reshaping China’s transnational Internet industry.","Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2019-08-01","The student, Min Tang, accepted the attached license on 2017-07-07 at 15:12.","The student, Min Tang, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2017-07-07 at 15:22.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2017-07-09 at 15:26.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #11340 on 2017-09-29 at 10:46:46","Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-29T17:45:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 TANG-DISSERTATION-2017.pdf: 2667340 bytes, checksum: fb6854df71bee75dfca8bbc7e76e0f10 (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4205 bytes, checksum: 0e49017db71f359cb0311889ce41609f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-07-09","Embargo set by: Colleen Fallaw for item 103490 Lift date: 2019-09-29T17:48:06Z Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 103490 Lift date: 2020-03-02T19:56:41Z Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 103490 Lift date: 2020-03-02T19:59:52Z Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 103490 Lift date: 2020-03-02T20:02:46Z Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Limited Restriction set for Item 103490 on 2019-03-04T15:24:28Z with date 2022-03-04 by fschaef2@illinois.edu.","Limited Restriction set for Item 103490 on 2019-03-04T15:24:33Z with date 2022-03-04 by fschaef2@illinois.edu.","Limited Restriction Lifted for Item 103490 on 2022-03-04T10:15:15Z."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Tencent as a nexus: the political economy of China’s internet industry"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Schiller, Dan","Davis, Susan","McChesney, Robert","Zhao, Yuezhi"],"dc:creator":["Tang, Min"],"dc:date":["2017-09-29T17:45:40Z","2022-03-04T10:15:15Z","2017-07-09","2017-08"],"dc:description":["This dissertation examines the political economy of China’s Internet industry—a nexus of two dynamic poles of growth—China and the Internet. Specifically, through a case study of Tencent, the dissertation investigates the political-economic context within which the Chinese Internet company has grown, the ownership and control and expansion strategies of the company, and its relations with units of capital—domestic and transnational—and state entities. In doing so, the study contributes to three areas of knowledge: the political-economy theory of the Internet, the specific dynamics of China’s Internet industry and its interaction with transnational digital capitalism, and the contemporary transformation of China and the global political economy. This dissertation argues that Tencent emerged as a creation jointly of the Chinese state and transnational financial capital. On one hand, Tencent stood out under the state-driven policies that have prioritized the development of China’s information and communication technology (ICT) industry since the mid-1990s. On the other, the China-based company has been substantially transnationalized both in its capital structure and business activities. Furthermore, the expansion strategies Tencent employed—horizontal and vertical integration, diversification and transnationalization—spoke to the intrinsic trends of capitalist reproduction and the consistent features of the political economy of communications. Chinese state agencies have played crucial roles in protecting, brokering, shaping, and reshaping China’s transnational Internet industry.","Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2019-08-01","The student, Min Tang, accepted the attached license on 2017-07-07 at 15:12.","The student, Min Tang, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2017-07-07 at 15:22.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2017-07-09 at 15:26.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #11340 on 2017-09-29 at 10:46:46","Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-29T17:45:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 TANG-DISSERTATION-2017.pdf: 2667340 bytes, checksum: fb6854df71bee75dfca8bbc7e76e0f10 (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4205 bytes, checksum: 0e49017db71f359cb0311889ce41609f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-07-09","Embargo set by: Colleen Fallaw for item 103490 Lift date: 2019-09-29T17:48:06Z Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 103490 Lift date: 2020-03-02T19:56:41Z Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 103490 Lift date: 2020-03-02T19:59:52Z Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 103490 Lift date: 2020-03-02T20:02:46Z Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Limited Restriction set for Item 103490 on 2019-03-04T15:24:28Z with date 2022-03-04 by fschaef2@illinois.edu.","Limited Restriction set for Item 103490 on 2019-03-04T15:24:33Z with date 2022-03-04 by fschaef2@illinois.edu.","Limited Restriction Lifted for Item 103490 on 2022-03-04T10:15:15Z."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/98202"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2017 Min Tang"],"dc:subject":["Political economy","Internet industry","China"],"dc:title":["Tencent as a nexus: the political economy of China’s internet industry"],"dc:type":["text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Communication"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:35Z"}