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China's phenomenal economic growth has riveted attention on the role of the Chinese state. Several models, such as the developmental state, predatory state, irresponsible state, state capitalism and centrally managed capitalism, have contributed to our understanding of that topic, but none of them can capture the dynamism and complexity of the Chinese state's role. Drawing on two cases in the petroleum industry, this article argues that a state-management approach (SMMA) is in a better position to account for the role of the state and the nature of the state–national oil companies (NOCs) ties.1 If most countries embracing the market economy can be classified as a state-in-market paradigm, where state interventions in economic activities are subject to market forces, China's SMMA can be regarded as a market-in-state model, where China's state is superior to the market.