Matthias Stepan is the head of the research program on Chinese domestic politics at the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS). He is an expert on policy-making processes and China’s Party-state nexus. His research focuses on the changing role of government and the transformation of China’s social security system. Among his recent publications are “Building the New Socialist Countryside: Tracking Public Policy and Public Opinion Changes in China” published in The China Quarterly, and “The Establishment of China’s New Type Rural Social Insurance Pension: A Process Perspective” in Journal Of Current Chinese Affairs. Together with Sebastian Heilmann, he co-edited the essay collection “China’s Core Executive: Leadership Styles, Structures and Processes Under Xi Jinping,” the first MERICS Papers on China.