Although it is widely recognised that institutionalist approaches can provide an appropriate framework for the study of entrepreneurship in hostile environments, they are repeatedly criticised for the lack of consideration given to human agency. In this context two questions are considered in this paper: first the role of human agency in institutional change and secondly the strategies of actors used to achieve institutional change. The concept of institutional entrepreneurship (both government officials and entrepreneurs) has been presented as one way of dealing with the role of actors in institutional change, although it is not without its critics. In this context, the paper focuses on the role of entrepreneurs as institutional change agents in China. Following a theoretical review, case study evidence of well-known Chinese entrepreneurs is used to demonstrate a variety of roles.