After more than 30 years of rapid development, China has established herself as an important engine of growth for the world economy. This achievement, however, came with a heavy price, in the form of serious pollution in its developed regions and social problems in areas such as healthcare and housing. This publication studies some of such problems and provides an updated account on a wide range of new social policy initiatives in China.China's New Social Policy distinguishes itself from other literature in this field. It undertakes a general methodology that assesses the social impact brought about by the market-oriented changes in China's social policies, and contests the idea whether market-oriented development can result in a more sustainable society. All chapters in the book are crafted by prominent scholars, which include Professor Zheng Yongnian, Director of the East Asian Institute, and Professor Gu Xin, School of Government, Peking University.

This book critically and comprehensively examines China’s welfare development amidst its rapid economic growth and increasing social tensions. It covers the main policy areas from China’s inception of the open door policy in 1978 to the new administration of Jinping Xi and Keqiang Li, including social security, health, education, housing, employment, rural areas, migrant workers, children and young people, disabled people, old age pensions and non-governmental organisations. In particular, it critically analyses the impact of policy changes on the well-being of Chinese people

Introduction : the quest for a balanced economic growth and social development - ideas and practices promoting social cohesion in greater China / Ka Ho Mok, Ka Kuen Leung and Yeun Wen Ku -- pt. I. Concepts of social cohesion and policy response. ch. 1. Social cohesive efforts to meet youth development needs in Tin Shui Wai, Hong Kong / Sandra K. M. Tsang and Yiu Kong Chu. ch. 2. In search of harmonious society in China : a social policy response / Kinglun Ngok and Yapeng Zhu. ch. 3. Social cohesion in a divided society : lessons from Taiwan's welfare politics / Yeun Wen Ku. ch. 4. One country, two cities : a comparison of perceived cohesion in Guangzhou and Hong Kong / Simon T. M. Chan, Sammy W. S. Chiu and Marcus Y. L. Chiu -- pt. II. Social change and urban governance. ch. 5. Governing a global city in the context of political transition / Tai Lok Lui. ch. 6. Embracing the market : examining the consequences for education, housing, and health in Chinese cities / Ka Ho Mok ... [et al.]. ch. 7. Urban governance from below : a case study of Kaohsiung, Taiwan / Shiuh Shen Chien and Yeilong Wu -- pt. III. Economic well-being, urban poverty and pension reforms. ch. 8. Elderly poverty and old-age pension reform in Hong Kong : issues and prospects / Ernest Chiu and Lisanne Ko. ch. 9. Is welfare restructuring and economic development in post-1997 Hong Kong in search of a cohesive society? / Maggie Lau and Ka Ho Mok. ch. 10. Economic development and household economic well-being in urban China / Xiulan Zhang, Terry Lum and Yuebin Xu. ch. 11. The fragmentation of the old-age security system : the politics of pension reform in Taiwan / Shih Jiunn Shi.

In China s future social development, there is likely to be an interest in society building with interactions between top-down and bottom-up approaches, along with a deepened level of social reform and the construction of a harmonious or symbiotic society . This represents one of China s social development models, and is reflected in the Communist Party of China (CPC) and state policy. The term society building was proposed by Chinese thinkers nearly a century ago and was used by Chinese sociologists to study Chinese society since the 1930s. In the 21st century, society building has been used as an interdisciplinary concept by Chinese social scientists. The main concern of China for its future social development is to enhance its people s wellbeing and encourage them to build Chinese society in innovative and creative ways. This volume showcases the latest research of non-Chinese scholars relating to this indigenous concept and to China s social development in a global context. It tackles the following topics: the assessment of the social impact of infrastructure projects; China s reforms and its changing political system; whether or not the Singapore model is suitable for China to follow; soft power through education; and boundaries, cosmopolitanisms and spaces in Chinese and international cities. The book will be of interest to academics, professionals, practitioners, university students and the general public seeking a comprehensive understanding of China. Society Building: A China Model of Social Development is the second volume in the Understanding China and the World series, edited by the late Chinese sociologist ZHENG Hangsheng (1936 2014) and British Chinese scholar Xiangqun Chang. Both the title of the volume and book series deliberately reflect a new perspective on China, putting China in the context of globalization and inspiring comparative studies that enable non-Chinese to understand China and the world. About the book series and background This book was first published in 2014 by Cambridge Scholars Publishing (CSP). Five new pieces have been added to this new edition and many changes in other 3 pieces. It is published by the UK-based Global China Press (GCP) and New World Press (NWP). GCP is the first publisher specializing in dual language publications that focus on Chinese perspectives of the world and human knowledge and non-Chinese perspectives of China in a global context. NWP was founded in 1951 and is a member of the China International Publishing Group (CIPG). It publishes multilingual books on social sciences, literature, management and other disciplines that serve to introduce China to the world. As early as the 1980s, NWP published the China Study series in English, covering China s economy, politics, ethnicity, population, history, sociology and anthropology, and including Fei Xiaotong s Toward a People s Anthropology (1981), Chinese Village Close-Up (1982) and Small Towns in China (1986). NWP is republishing the China Study series jointly with GCP, supplemented by new titles. "

In China, social development has fallen far behind economic development. This book looks at why this is the case, and poses the question of whether the conditions, structures and institutions that have locked China into unbalanced development are changing to pave the way for the next stage of development. Based on an empirical examination of ideological, structural and institutional transformations that have shaped China’s development experiences, the book analyses China’s reform and development in the social domain, including pension, healthcare, public housing, ethnic policy, and public expenditure on social programs. The book moves beyond descriptive analyses to understand the role of broader changes in shaping and redefining the pattern of development in China.

Following significant interethnic violence beginning in 2008, Chinese intellectuals and policymakers are now engaged in unprecedented debate over the future direction of their country's ethnic policies. This study attempts to gauge current Chinese opinion on this once-secretive and still highly sensitive area of national policy. Domestic Chinese opinion on ethnic policies over the last five years is reviewed and implications for future policies under the new leadership of CPC Secretary General Xi Jinping are explored. Careful review of a wide spectrum of contemporary Chinese commentary identifies an emerging consensus for ethnic-policy reform. Leading public intellectuals, as well as some party officials, now openly call for new measures strengthening national integration at the expense of minority rights and autonomy. These reformers argue that divisive ethnic policies adopted from the former USSR must be replaced by those supporting an ethnic "melting pot" concept. Despite this important shift in opinion, such radical policy changes as ending regional ethnic autonomy or minority preferences are unlikely over the short-to-medium term. Small-yet-significant adjustments in rhetoric and policy emphasis are, however, expected as the party-state attempts to strengthen interethnic cohesiveness as a part of its larger agenda of stability maintenance. About the author James Leibold is a senior lecturer in Politics and Asian Studies at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. He is the author of Reconfiguring Chinese Nationalism (2007) and co-editor of Critical Han Studies (2012) and Minority Education in China (forthcoming). His research on ethnicity, nationalism, and race in modern China has appeared in The China Journal, The China Quarterly, The Journal of Asian Studies, Modern China, and other publications.

Justice and harmony have long been two of the world’s most treasured ideals, but much of modern moral and political philosophy puts them on opposite sides of the divide between liberal theories of the right and communitarian theories of the good. Joshua Mason argues that the encounter with their Chinese counterparts, zhengyi and hexie, can overcome this opposition, revealing a pattern that reframes justice and harmony as mutually interdependent concepts in a three-part framework of root harmony (benhe), harmonic justice (heyi), and just harmony (zhenghe). Broadly surveying the histories of western and Chinese moral and political philosophies, Justice and Harmony: Cross-Cultural Ideals in Conflict and Cooperation explores our cross-cultural conceptual inventories and develops a comparative framework that can overcome entrenched binary oppositions and reconcile these grand global values.

This book critically examines the issues and challenges of social development faced by societies in Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, with particular reference to the major strategies these societies adopt to promote social cohesion and civil harmony in the context of globalization. It focuses on people who have been socially marginalized by the Asian financial crisis in 1997, and examines the measures Greater China has adopted to balance economic growth with social development. The book will be of interest to readers who wish to know more about societies in Mainland China, and the effects of globalization.

The extraordinary rise of China is one of the greatest global stories of recent times. However, China's development has been described as ‘uneven, uncoordinated, and unsustainable’, and has now reached a critical turning point. To transform itself into a successful high-income economy, China urgently needs to develop a new welfare regime. Social policy and social welfare programmes are pivotal not only to meet mounting social needs but also to promote social cohesion. This timely book explores key turning points in China’s trajectory, from the creation of a socialist egalitarian society promising a relatively stable livelihood at the expense of economic development, through the market-oriented reforms which have dismantled the traditional social protection system. The authors present the formidable social challenges ahead, including demographic shift, residential migration, and corrosive inequalities, and outline the emerging forms of social security protection in urban and rural areas, community-based social care services, non-governmental organizations and the social work profession. To redress inequalities and strengthen social cohesion, China needs to construct a robust developmental and redistributive strategy with shared responsibility between different levels of governments, as well as between civil society, the state and the market. This comprehensive and astute guide to one of China’s key current challenges will be welcomed by students and scholars of social policy, welfare, sociology and political science, and all interested in contemporary China.

Inclusive Growth in Australia overturns two decades of assumptions that social policy is wasteful and a source of dependency. It reflects a global resurgence of the understanding that an active and effective social policy regime is vital not only for a flourishing society, but also for a strong economy. It explains this new paradigm of inclusive growth and shows how it can be implemented in Australia. Inclusive growth dismantles the idea that social development will automatically trickle down from untrammelled market based growth. Rather, growth must be managed so that it is employment centred, broad based across sectors and with a social security system promoting sustainability and equality of opportunity. The editors argue that productivity is 'nearly everything' when it comes to raising living standards. So while social policies will be about goals other than the economy, they must demonstrate their compatibility with an economic growth strategy. With contributions from leading national and international experts in the field including Marian Baird, Grant Belchamber, Gerald Burke, Saul Eslake, Roy Green and Peter Whiteford, Inclusive Growth in Australia shows that 'welfare state' spending is as much an economic investment as a measure of social protection. Written for policy makers, industry and NGOs as well as students, Inclusive Growth in Australia locates Australian economic and social policy within the most important emergent themes shaping international debate.