Building a ‘national team’? The private sector in China’s cyber defense

In the United States and Europe, the private sector plays a pivotal role in cyber defense. In China, this role is less clear, due to the ‘socialist market economy’ system implemented in the country. Under the ‘Military-Civil Fusion Development Strategy’, the party-state has been promoting integration between the military-industrial complex and the civilian sector. Yet, the specific role that the private sector is assigned within the strategy’s ‘civilian side’ remains unclear. By presenting an analysis of the specialized Chinese journal Civil-Military Integration on Cyberspace, the paper reveals a complex (and largely unresolved) relationship between China’s party-state and the private sector.