China has been growing at over ten per cent annually since 1978, but this has only come to very widespread notice in the past decade. This received wisdom about China has been largely of two types, both of which – more or less – understand China in the context of neoliberalism. The more business- or business studies-oriented literature seems to argue that if China does not adapt the rule of clear and distinct property and contract law – in short, of Western institutions – its economy will stall. The second set of voices is more clearly from the left, arguing that the Chinese economy, and city, is neo-liberal. For them, China does not diverge widely from the Anglo-American model that, from 2008, has brought the world economy to its knees. China Constructing Capitalism takes issue with these analyses. The authors argue that it is not Western neo-liberalism that is constructing the Chinese economy, but instead that China is constructing its own version of capitalism. The two central theses of their argument are: economic life – neo-liberal economic life is individualized and disembedded, while the China model is relational and situated urban change – China has created a form of ‘local state capitalism’ which stands in contrast to neoliberal versions of the city. This book analyses China as a 'risk culture', examining among others Chinese firms and political ties, property development, migrant urbanisms and share trading rooms. It scrutinises the ever-present shadow of the risk-averse (yet uncertainty-creating) state. China Constructing Capitalism is a must-read for social scientists, policy makers and investors.

Why has China's 'transition' to a market economy not catalysed corresponding political transformation? In an era of deepening synergy between authoritarian politics and capitalist economics, this book offers a novel perspective on this central dilemma of contemporary Chinese development, shedding light on how the Chinese Communist Party achieved rapid economic growth while preserving political stability. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and over sixty interviews with policymakers, bankers and former party and state officials, the book delves into the role of China's state-owned banking system since 1989, showing how political control over capital has been central to the country's experience of capitalist development. It challenges existing state-market paradigms of political economy and reveals the Eurocentric assumptions underpinning liberal perspectives towards Chinese authoritarian resilience.

Even as relations between Taiwan and the People's Republic of China continue to be strained, investment by Taiwanese businesses in China is growing every year. Between 1978 and 1994, Taiwan businesses invested $10 billion in China, 10% of the total foreign investment during that period. This study describes the magnitude and importance of this investment. Hsing demonstrates the role of a shared cultural heritage and language and the role of Chinese local government in building networks of firms in the two countries.

How China Became Capitalist details the extraordinary, and often unanticipated, journey that China has taken over the past thirty five years in transforming itself from a closed agrarian socialist economy to an indomitable economic force in the international arena. The authors revitalise the debate around the rise of the Chinese economy through the use of primary sources, persuasively arguing that the reforms implemented by the Chinese leaders did not represent a concerted attempt to create a capitalist economy, and that it was 'marginal revolutions' that introduced the market and entrepreneurship back to China. Lessons from the West were guided by the traditional Chinese principle of 'seeking truth from facts'. By turning to capitalism, China re-embraced her own cultural roots. How China Became Capitalist challenges received wisdom about the future of the Chinese economy, warning that while China has enormous potential for further growth, the future is clouded by the government's monopoly of ideas and power. Coase and Wang argue that the development of a market for ideas which has a long and revered tradition in China would be integral in bringing about the Chinese dream of social harmony.

Presents a story of two Chinas – an entrepreneurial rural China and a state-controlled urban China. In the 1980s, rural China gained the upper hand. In the 1990s, urban China triumphed. In the 1990s, the Chinese state reversed many of its rural experiments, with long-lasting damage to the economy and society. A weak financial sector, income disparity, rising illiteracy, productivity slowdowns, and reduced personal income growth are the product of the capitalism with Chinese characteristics of the 1990s and beyond. While GDP grew quickly in both decades, the welfare implications of growth differed substantially. The book uses the emerging Indian miracle to debunk the widespread notion that democracy is automatically anti-growth. As the country marked its 30th anniversary of reforms in 2008, China faces some of its toughest economic challenges and substantial vulnerabilities that require fundamental institutional reforms.

This stimulating and challenging book explores the duplicitous nature of development in China. On the positive side, it brings longer and healthier lives; fewer children dead before they are five years old; more comfort and security from famine and disaster; more education; more communication; more travel; less war. But from another, darker perspective, development brings violence to some people – those who are in the way of the new things, those who cannot adapt to the new ways – and it threatens old knowledges, habits and societies as it disrupts old power structures. Michael Webber presents fascinating case studies that demonstrate what these forms of development mean for people who are relatively weak or powerless – those who post-colonial theorists call the subalterns. The cases illustrate how development can change the manner in which people relate to each other and threatens their entire environment. Through this detailed consideration of the impacts of development on the people who live in those places, he examines whether these changes represent the emergence of capitalism or a transition, develops a theory of relationships between economy and daily life and questions the very nature of Chinese capitalism. This multidisciplinary study encompasses the social sciences to provide a coherent view of the forms that development takes in various places within rural China. As such, it will prove a fascinating and thought-provoking read for undergraduates, postgraduate students and researchers within economics, Asian studies, development studies and geography.

By investigating the nexus of relationships between urban and rural factories in the Shanghai region of China, this book shines light on an overlooked part of China's massive industrial growth since the 1980s.

The “vivid, provocative” untold story of how restrictive policies are preventing China from becoming the world’s largest economy (Evan Osnos). Dexter Roberts lived in Beijing for two decades working as a reporter on economics, business and politics for Bloomberg Businessweek. In The Myth of Chinese Capitalism, Roberts explores the reality behind today’s financially-ascendant China and pulls the curtain back on how the Chinese manufacturing machine is actually powered. He focuses on two places: the village of Binghuacun in the province of Guizhou, one of China’s poorest regions that sends the highest proportion of its youth away to become migrants; and Dongguan, China’s most infamous factory town located in Guangdong, home to both the largest number of migrant workers and the country’s biggest manufacturing base. Within these two towns and the people that move between them, Roberts focuses on the story of the Mo family, former farmers-turned-migrant-workers who are struggling to make a living in a fast-changing country that relegates one-half of its people to second-class status via household registration, land tenure policies and inequality in education and health care systems. In The Myth of Chinese Capitalism, Dexter Roberts brings to life the problems that China and its people face today as they attempt to overcome a divisive system that poses a serious challenge to the country’s future development. In so doing, Roberts paints a boots-on-the-ground cautionary picture of China for a world now held in its financial thrall. Praise for The Myth of Chinese Capitalism “A gimlet-eyed look at an economic miracle that may not be so miraculous after all.” —Kirkus Reviews “A clearheaded and persuasive counter-narrative to the notion that the Chinese economic model is set to take over the world. Readers looking for an informed and nuanced perspective on modern China will find it here.” —Publishers Weekly “A sophisticated and readable take of China’s triumphs and crises. . . . A first-hand witness to China’s transformation over the past quarter century, Roberts credibly challenges the myth of China’s inevitable rise and global dominance.” —Ian Johnson, Pulitzer Prize–winning author and Beijing-based correspondent “A potent mix of personal stories and deft analysis, The Myth of Chinese Capitalism takes a hard look at China’s migrants and rural people.” —Mei Fong, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author of One Child: The Story of China’s Most RadicalExperiment

Over 630 million Chinese escaped poverty since the 1980s, the largest decrease in poverty in history. Studying 700 manufacturing firms in the Yangzi region, the authors argue that the engine of China’s economic miracle—private enterprise—did not originate at the top but bubbled up from below, overcoming initial obstacles set up by the government.

This book comprises a collection of well-researched essays on selected contemporary economic and finance issues in China, making a timely contribution to the intellectual intercourse regarding the implications of China’s rise. These essays analyze issues related to the state of China’s ecology, real estate market, inbound and outbound FDI, income inequality, etc., and offer analysis on the policy and institutional causes of those issues. Readers will be able to infer their implications for business opportunities in China and the tradeoff / tension between economic growth and social welfare. Moreover, this book introduces an array of data and data sources useful to scholars and practitioners interested in studying the Chinese model of economic growth. This book will be a valuable resource to journalists and scholars trying to gain insight into China’s extraordinary pace of growth in the past three decades.