Summary Corruption in China, in various forms, has expanded along with and as a consequence of market reforms. Rent‐seeking explanations are insufficient in explaining this link, which must also consider changes in the nature of the politico‐administrative system, shifts in social values, and the changing structural context of opportunity, demand and impunity. Rather than reducing corruption, market reforms have not only increased it but have established a new type of relationship between officials and an emerging business elite which may well perpetuate the phenomenon over the longer term.