Policy transfer: the case of European Union–China cooperation in public administration reform

Abstract

This article addresses the Chinese government’s accelerated process of administrative reform and focuses on the decade-long effort by China to develop transfer policies with selected European nations. Providing more efficient public services and building a broad policy capacity in the face of growing internal and external challenges have prompted the Chinese government’s active engagement in this policy-oriented learning and capacity transfer. New systems of governance through international cooperation programs have been explored, and new initiatives have been adopted. This article presents a case study of the China–Europe Public Administration program, which has served as a rich source of information for government department reform in China. The China–Europe Public Administration program is a policy hub that provides various examples of policy transfer regarding public management from the European Union to China. This article expands the voluntary policy transfer network model as a heuristic approach for understanding the administration reform process, especially regarding personnel sector development in China, and suggests that policy transfer is a rational analytical framework for studying progressive administrative reform in transitional states. In addition, it is observed that policy hubs, like the China–Europe Public Administration program, have become key tools for the internationalization of neoliberal public sector reforms. In doing so, this article contributes to the burgeoning policy transfer literature, which has previously paid little attention to the situation in China.

Points for practitioners

Policy transfer is a rational tool for policymaking and policy innovation. This article explores the role of the China–Europe Public Administration program as an instrument of policy learning in public administration reform, particularly in the area of human resources development. Here, the policy transfer network approach proves to be a useful heuristic device for organizing the case study, as well as for studying the policy transfer processes.