Alibaba

Hong Shen examines the political-economic dynamics behind the growth of Alibaba, a leading global internet company. Alibaba is both a prominent example of China's outward expansion and part of the infrastructure that makes it possible. The book uses the company to show how different state agencies and units of capital interact as China rises globally.

Shen traces how Alibaba developed and expanded. She argues that it has become a leader of China's increasingly global internet and has also served as an infrastructure model for other Chinese companies going abroad. Throughout, this process has been shaped and reshaped by complex interactions between the state and capital.

The book shows how units of capital inside and outside China have interacted with Alibaba's strategies. It also shows how domestic and international state agencies have enabled or constrained the company's growth, especially its global expansion.

It is written for students and scholars of the critical political economy of media, global media and digital industries, communication, technology and society, and internet studies. It is also relevant to policy-makers who work on global internet and trade policy.