This book surveys the competing, or sometimes complementary, roles of the state and the market in shaping China's pattern of regional development during the Communist era. The uneven pace of industrialisation across China's provinces during its economic transition raises numerous questions regarding spatial patterns of industrial development in a developing, transitional economy. Jane Golley's book answers questions such as: Why have inter-regional inequalities in industrial development come to exist? Why are they tending to increase? How have regional policies and reform strategies impacted on these trends? How, if at all, can these trends be reversed? A comparative economic systems analysis of the Mao and Deng eras, combined with theoretical and empirical evidence of the disequilibrium nature of regional development, depicts the recent trend of rising inequality across China as being both inevitable and ongoing. The central government's 'Western Development Strategy' is assessed in this context. The most novel contribution of the book is the development of a framework for thinking about regional development and policy, which combines two distinct approaches - 'new' economic geography and comparative economic systems analysis - which can be used to understand patterns of regional development anywhere in the world. The application of this framework to regional development during the Mao and Deng eras provides a uniquely holistic and easy-to-read coverage of the topic. The Dynamics of Chinese Regional Development will appeal to undergraduate and postgraduate students of the Chinese economy. The book will also find an audience in scholars and researchers of Chinese and Asian studies more generally as well as students and scholars of economics, political economy and regional science.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is emerging as a vital lynch-pin in China's efforts to establish a maritime and continental zone of influence in the Indo-Pacific region. The Belt and Road Initiative and the Future of Regional Order in the Indo-Pacific interrogates to what extent BRI represents an achievable vision of a China-centric order in Asia and explores its major security implications for the region. The contributions to this volume provide up-to-date analysis of the effect of BRI on the region's foreign policy and alliance patterns, its connection to geo-economics and domestic Chinese politics, and the policy responses of key Indo-Pacific actors. While acknowledging that BRI remains prey to a variety of internal and exogenous shocks, the contributors conclude that at the very least BRI will continue to disrupt the existing alignments of economic and strategic interests in the Indo-Pacific and that on this minimal basis BRI will likely be judged a success by China. For regional actors, however, the BRI simultaneously enhances choice while presenting strategic and economic risks of greater dependency on China - a dilemma intensified by the disruptive effects of the Trump administration on regional confidence in the longevity of American commitments and leadership.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is emerging as a vital lynch-pin in China's efforts to establish a maritime and continental zone of influence in the Indo-Pacific region. The Belt and Road Initiative and the Future of Regional Order in the Indo-Pacific interrogates to what extent BRI represents an achievable vision of a China-centric order in Asia and explores its major security implications for the region. The contributions to this volume provide up-to-date analysis of the effect of BRI on the region's foreign policy and alliance patterns, its connection to geo-economics and domestic Chinese politics, and the policy responses of key Indo-Pacific actors. While acknowledging that BRI remains prey to a variety of internal and exogenous shocks, the contributors conclude that at the very least BRI will continue to disrupt the existing alignments of economic and strategic interests in the Indo-Pacific and that on this minimal basis BRI will likely be judged a success by China. For regional actors, however, the BRI simultaneously enhances choice while presenting strategic and economic risks of greater dependency on China - a dilemma intensified by the disruptive effects of the Trump administration on regional confidence in the longevity of American commitments and leadership.