Economic growth in China has been exceptionally strong in recent decades, but the country still faces enormous economic problems, including huge poverty, uneven regional development, the problems associated with strengthening capital formation, modernising and making more productive the very large former state sector. This book presents the work of a wide range of leading economists of China, all members of the prestigious Chinese Economics Association, who put forward new research findings and new thinking on a wide range of issues connected with the problem of sustaining China's economic growth.

The concept of 'harmonization' has become very popular in China, with the Chinese government increasingly applying the term 'harmonious society' to internal affairs and the term 'harmonious world' to international relationships. Harmonization as both an end and a means of China's development is deeply rooted in China's cultural tradition, which emphasizes moderation, balance and harmony between human beings and nature, between different social groups, and between the Chinese and other nationalities. This book examines the experience of enacting the concept of harmonization in China in recent years. It explores this in terms of developments within Chinese society, economic developments and changes in business practices, environmental challenges and coping strategies, and changing patterns of international relations. Throughout, it discusses the gaps between rhetoric and reality, policy and practice.

Presenting original work and new thinking on a wide range of important issues, the book explores the current state of globalization, competition and growth in China. China has produced an economic miracle since the late 1970s in its transition from a planned to a market economy. This remarkable economic performance was brought about by an open-door policy and gradual integration with the world economy, culminating in China's admission into the World Trade Organisation in 2001. Studies included in this book focus on issues such as foreign direct investment, international trade, reforms in the financial sector, the development of rural township and village enterprises, the investment strategies of multinational corporations, and economic growth.

China has experienced over a quarter century of rapid economic growth, which has had a phenomenal impact on the global economy. Entering into the twenty-first century implies that China has begun a new phase of economic and social development. Yao reviews the economic development history of contemporary China from 1949 to the present, paying special attention to growth, inequality and poverty reduction. A real Chinese economic miracle should have two important features: high income growth and a fair distribution system so that poverty can be eradicated.

Although China's economy has grown very rapidly in recent decades, there are still very large differences between the economy of mainland China and the economies of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. For example, per capita income in Hong Kong is many, many times higher than per capita income in mainland China. This book considers the degree to which economic convergence between mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan has occurred, and the prospects for increased convergence in the future. It considers economic integration between China and its two Special Administrative Regions (SARS), emphasising the large volume of capital flows and exports, especially from Hong Kong into China, and showing that the economies are highly integrated, despites their differences. It examines income convergence, and changes in productivity, using the same measures for both China and the two SARS, unlike most existing studies. It explores how economic reforms have been crucial to increasing convergence so far, and will continue to be in the future, and concludes by discussing the implications for policy of encouraging increased convergence.

After thirty years of economic reform, China has reached a crossroads in its development process, and faces many challenges in the use of natural resources, the living environment, and the economic, social and political systems. The sustainability of China's reform and development is even more salient in the face of the global financial crisis and economic recession. Taking the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing as an iconic turning-point, the book explores key themes such as economic reform and sustainability, innovation and sustainability, globalisation and social development, and analyses the prospects for sustainable reform and development in Post-Olympic China. The book includes topics such as Chinese banking reforms; the issue of regional inequalities; energy and environmental challenges; industry development and corporate social responsibility, and democracy and media bloggers. With analysis written by experts from a wide range of disciplines, the book will appeal to a wide range of readers interested in China's environment and sustainable development, economic and political reform, and international relations.

Although China's economy has grown very rapidly in recent decades, there are still very large differences between the economy of mainland China and the economies of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. For example, per capita income in Hong Kong is many, many times higher than per capita income in mainland China. This book considers the degree to which economic convergence between mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan has occurred, and the prospects for increased convergence in the future. It considers economic integration between China and its two Special Administrative Regions (SARS), emphasising the large volume of capital flows and exports, especially from Hong Kong into China, and showing that the economies are highly integrated, despites their differences. It examines income convergence, and changes in productivity, using the same measures for both China and the two SARS, unlike most existing studies. It explores how economic reforms have been crucial to increasing convergence so far, and will continue to be in the future, and concludes by discussing the implications for policy of encouraging increased convergence.

China has experienced over a quarter century of rapid economic growth, which has a phenomenal impact on the global economy. Entering into the 21st century implies that China has begun a new phase of economic and social development. Vast improvement in people's living standards, however, has been coupled with two critical problems: inequality and poverty. The key question is not that people should be pessimistic about China's future growth and prosperity, but that people should consider which direction that China will go. Is it going to become one of the most un-egalitarian countries like Brazil and Mexico, or one of the most dynamic and relatively egalitarian economies like South Korea and Taiwan. This book reviews the economic development history of contemporary China from 1949 up to today, paying special attention to the interface among growth, inequality and poverty reduction. A real China economic miracle should have two important features: high income growth and a fair distribution system so that povertycan be eradicated.

Economic growth in China has been exceptionally strong in recent decades, but the country still faces enormous economic problems, including huge poverty, uneven regional development, the problems associated with strengthening capital formation, modernising and making more productive the very large former state sector. This book presents the work of a wide range of leading economists of China, all members of the prestigious Chinese Economics Association, who put forward new research findings and new thinking on a wide range of issues connected with the problem of sustaining China's economic growth.

After thirty years of economic reform, China has reached a crossroads in its development process, and faces many challenges in the use of natural resources, the living environment, and the economic, social and political systems. The sustainability of China s reform and development is even more salient in the face of the global financial crisis and economic recession. Taking the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing as an iconic turning-point, the book explores key themes such as economic reform and sustainability, innovation and sustainability, globalisation and social development, and analyses the prospects for sustainable reform and development in Post-Olympic China.

The book includes topics such as Chinese banking reforms; the issue of regional inequalities; energy and environmental challenges; industry development and corporate social responsibility, and democracy and media bloggers. With analysis written by experts from a wide range of disciplines, the book will appeal to a wide range of readers interested in China s environment and sustainable development, economic and political reform, and international relations."

The concept of harmonisation has become very popular in China, with the Chinese government increasingly applying the term harmonious society to internal affairs and the term harmonious world to international relationships. Harmonisation as both an end and a means of China 's development is deeply rooted in China 's cultural tradition, which emphasises moderation, balance and harmony between human beings and nature, between different social groups, and between the Chinese and other nationalities. This book examines the experience of enacting the concept of harmonisation in China in recent years. It explores this in terms of developments within Chinese society, economic developments and changes in business practices, environmental challenges and coping strategies, and changing patterns of international relations. Throughout, it discusses the gaps between rhetoric and reality, policy and practice.

This book is a wide-ranging and timely overview of the contemporary Chinese banking system. It charts the vast changes in Chinese banking from before China's admission to the WTO in 2001 to more recent regulatory reform and developments in the shadow banking sector. The book begins with an economic history of the mono-banking system, and a critical discussion of reforms taken by the government in preparation for China's entry to the WTO. The second part of the book discusses banking regulation and government policy during and after the global financial crisis in 2008-2009 and their impact on banking, including recent developments. Finally, the book concludes an empirical analysis of the impact of banking reforms on a number of important issues, including bank efficiency, capital structure, competition and financial stability, and risk taking behaviour, and a review of the relevance of shadow banking and internet banking.

The Chinese insurance industry has experienced rapid development during the past decade. This original book is the first English language study in the literature to address the efficiency issue of the Chinese insurance sector, and presents a comprehensive review on alternative methodologies for analyzing firm efficiency.The authors suggest alternative ways to improve performance of insurance companies in China and make useful policy recommendations on regulation, competition and development of the insurance industry. They expand the applications of data envelopment analysis and stochastic frontier analysis in the literature on technical efficiency and discuss managerial implications for both insurance companies and policymakers. Performance of the Chinese Insurance Industry under Economic Reforms will be significant for academic researchers and students of economics, finance and business. Managers of financial institutions in China and the rest of the world will find this important book intriguing, as will policymakers and regulators working in the financial and insurance industries.

This wide ranging collection of essays addresses many important issues in China's economy under transition, from grain production and trade, to the development of township enterprises, the restructuring of state-owned enterprises, the emergence of big business, money demand, and consumption behavior. The contributors provide insightful analysis and discussions of economic policies, illuminating the institutional context within which reform strategies are negotiated and implemented in different economic sectors.

This book explains how policy changes affect farmers' production incentives and efficiency of resource allocation within and outside agriculture in modern China, paying particular attention to the effects of technical inputs on yield and efficiency of spatial crop production pattern. Drawing experiences of agricultural development in different periods after independence and employing two different quantitative techniques, it concludes that government's long term tendency to undermine the role of agriculture, lack of state investment and the inconsistency of market reforms are three major threats to sustained grain production and agricultural growth in China.

Economic Reform and State-Owned Enterprises in China is a comprehensive and detailed investigation into China's reform process during the period 1979 to 1987, with especial reference to the effect of the reforms on the industries (mostly large-scale) that are still owned by the state. The data on which this book is based resulted from a statistical survey and questionnaire of the managers of approximately 380 enterprises, documenting their responses to the new environment created by the reforms. The survey was undertaken by a team from the University of Oxford, in collaboration with the Institute of Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. Donald Hay and Derek Morris have a distinguished reputation for their work in applied industrial organisation. This book takes the statistical data collected and gives a thorough analysis of virtually every aspect of enterprise behaviourproduction and costs, employment, profit margins and profitability, finance, investment decisions and autonomy. The constant question is whether the reform programme was successful in the state-owned sectors, and the authors conclude that the answer is a qualified 'yes' and that in many respects the enterprises began in the eighties to behave like Western firms. The authors also succeed in constructing a model of Chinese state-owned enterprise, and in using this to simulate the results of further reform programmes. They conclude that state-ownership remains a major constraint on market-led behaviour and efficiency. The authors argue that the next stage of reform must be to transfer these large enterprises to share- rather than state-ownership. A comprehensive analysis, packed with statisticaldata, this book will be essential for all those interested in China's economic reform process and the role of the state.