Abstract: Under the unitary system， the policy-making process of Chinese local governments is often intervened by the central government. The central government intervention can be categorized into three types， namely， administrative instruction， political incentives and economic incentives. Accordingly， an analytical framework of the relationship between central government intervention and policy diffusion under the Chinese political structure was developed. Taking the low-rent housing policy as an example， the diffusion path and characteristics of Chinese local governments were summarized. The results showed that the type of central government intervention hinges upon the policy diffusion process. Administrative instruction is the dominant type at the early stage of policy diffusion， whereas political and economic incentives become the main interventions during the later diffusion period.

Key words: central government intervention, policy diffusion, administrative instruction, political incentive, economic incentive