Examining key issues in each of the major sectors of the Chinese economy, this book uses a wide range of primary research materials and subjects them to rigorous analysis. It illuminates the way in which China's "step-by-step" reform affected different parts of the economy, and identifies many difficulties resulting from this approach. It also enables readers to understand why this broad strategy of reforming a communist planned economy was successful in the Chinese case. Other works by Peter Nolan include "The Chinese Economy and Its Future" (co-edited with Dong Fureng) and "State and Market in the Chinese Economy: Essays on Controversial Issues".