Will China's recent economic growth continue at the same rate? For how long? What obstacles lie in the way of sustained growth? Who gains and why?... Gregory Chow covers these and many other issues. Provides a penetrating and comprehensive analysis of the historical, institutional and theoretical factors that have contributed to China's economic success Reveals new findings concerning the roles of market institutions, Chinese human capital, private ownership, forms of government, political conditions, and bureaucratic economic institutions The new edition covers a diverse set of important issues: environmental restraints; income distribution; rural poverty; the education system; healthcare; exchange rate policies; monetary policies; and financial regulation.

China’s huge environmental challenges are significant for us all. They affect not only the health and well-being of China but the very future of the... planet. In this trailblazing book, noted China specialist and environmentalist Judith Shapiro investigates China’s struggle to achieve sustainable development against a backdrop of acute rural poverty and soaring middle class consumption. Using five core analytical concepts to explore the complexities of this struggle - the implications of globalization, the challenges of governance; contested national identity, the evolution of civil society and problems of environmental justice and equity - Shapiro poses a number of pressing questions: Do the Chinese people have the right to the higher living standards enjoyed in the developed world? Are China's environmental problems so severe that they may shake the government's stability, legitimacy and control? To what extent are China’s environmental problems due to patterns of Western consumption? And in a world of increasing limits on resources and pollution "sinks," is it even possible to build an equitable system in which people enjoy equal access to resources without taking them from successive generations, from the poor, or from other species? China and the planet are at a pivotal moment; the path towards a more sustainable development model is still open. But - as Shapiro persuasively argues - making this choice will require humility, creativity, and a rejection of business as usual. The window of opportunity will not be open much longer.Chapter 1 - 'The Big Picture' - is available online.

The discovery of mirror neurons and of a mirror neuron system in the human brain raises the interesting possibility that “mirroring” may constitute... novel instances of mental simulation. It also provides the basis for unique processes such as “mindreading”, the ability to make inferences about the actions of others. That an elementary process in motor cognition may be foundational to mindreading goes a long way in providing a rational basis for the study of social cognition. Social cognition is a broad discipline that encompasses many issues not yet adequately addressed by neurobiologists. In Mirror Neuron Systems: The Role of Mirroring Processes in Social Cognition, leading thinkers in this nascent field craft chapters aimed at sparking a dialogue regarding the relevance of mirroring neural systems in cognition. Thought-provoking and cutting-edge, Mirror Neuron Systems: The Role of Mirroring Processes in Social Cognition provides the basis for extended discussion among interested readers and lays down the guidelines for future research in this fascinating and expanding field. It addresses issues common to different perspectives, raises contrary views, and creates the basis for an extended dialogue and discussion.

The author of this book is the original proponent of China's exchange rate system reform announced in 2005. This book discusses: * The transitional,... medium-term and long-term designs of the reform * China's achievements and mistakes on the reform *China's banking reform and its lessons to other emerging economies *Maintaining a certain trade surplus as a dynamically optimal choice for China *China's stock market bubble and the gradual bubble squeezing strategy *China's property inflation and its solution *China's fiscal and monetary policies during and after the global financial tsunami *Risk of global asset inflation, CPI inflation and cycle of exchange rate after the financial tsunami *Likelihood of an asset bubble and then a crisis in economies outside the US during the overheated phase of the recovery Through these discussions, the author hopes to share his knowledge on macroeconomic policy management accumulated over the past thirty five years. In particular, he would like to share his insights on macroeconomic policy management before, during and after an asset inflation era or a crisis period. He would also like to warn policy makers and financial investors on the likelihood of an asset bubble and then a crisis in economies outside the US. The author hopes this book could eventually stimulate the emergence of "macroeconomic policy management" as a new and important discipline in economics. While the focus of the book is on macroeconomic policy management, it also offers important lessons and strategies on share and property investments. Thus, economists, policy makers, central bank officials, economics students, business and finance professionals, individual investors and academia in other disciplines will find the book useful.

With President Hu Jintao's November 2004 visit to Latin America, China signaled to the rest of the world its growing interest in the region. Indeed,... this recent encroachment on the United States' backyard has awakened new concerns in U.S. policy circles. On the one hand, this development could challenge U.S. primacy in the Western Hemisphere. On the other hand, some observers view China's courtship of Latin America as a natural step due to China's need for long-term commodities and energy solutions. The trade partnership between China and the U.S. symbolizes one of the most important bilateral relationships in the twenty first century. In light of this relationship, will China's move to strengthen diplomatic and economic ties with Latin America heighten the level of tension between these two powerhouses? China's Expansion into the Western Hemisphere presents a revealing and multilayered exposition of this triangular relationship and the motivations of each player. To that end, experts from Latin America, China, Europe, and the United States evaluate the ramifications of China's emergence as a world power. Several chapters craft a framework for anticipating the economic and energy security aspect of the China-Latin American relationship. This absorbing analysis of China's hemispheric policy provides an in-depth look at a particularly sensitive aspect of its peaceful rise. Contributors: Christopher Alden (London School of Economics), Robert Devlin (ECLAC), Francisco González (Johns Hopkins University-SAIS), Monica Hirst (Torcuato Di Tella University), Joshua Kurlantzick (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace), Xiang Lanxin (Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva), Luisa Palacios (Medley Global Advisors), Jiang Shixue (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences), Barbara Stallings (Brown University), Juan Tokatlian (San Andrés University).

Unifier or destroyer, law-maker or tyrant? China’s First Emperor (258-210 BC) has been the subject of debate for over 2,000 years. He gave us the name... by which China is known in the West and, by his unification or elimination of six states, he created imperial China. He stressed the rule of law but suppressed all opposition, burning books and burying scholars alive. His military achievements are reflected in the astonishing terracotta soldiers—a veritable buried army—that surround his tomb, and his Great Wall still fascinates the world.Despite his achievements, however, the First Emperor has been vilified since his death. This book describes his life and times and reflects the historical arguments over the real founder of China and one of the most important men in Chinese history.

Despite China's obvious and growing importance on the world stage, it is often and easily misunderstood. Indeed, there are many Chinas, as this... comprehensive survey of contemporary China vividly illustrates. Now in a thoroughly revised and updated edition that offers the only sustained geography of the reform era, this book traces the changes occurring in this powerful and ancient nation across both time and space. Beginning with China's diverse landscapes and environments and continuing through its formative history and tumultuous recent past, the authors present contemporary China as a product of both internal and external forces of past and present. They trace current and future successes and challenges while placing China in its international context as a massive, still-developing nation that must meet the needs of its 1.3 billion citizens while becoming a major regional and global player. Through clear prose and new, dynamic maps and photos, China's Geography illustrates and explains the great differences in economy and culture found throughout China's many regions.

The Tang Dynasty (618-907), traditionally regarded as the golden age of China, was a time of patricians and intellectuals, Buddhist monks and Taoist... priests, poetry and music, song and dance. In China's Golden Age: Everyday Life in the Tang Dynasty, Charles Benn paints a vivid picture of the lifestyle behind the grandeur of the Tang culture. All aspects of day-to-day life are presented, including crime,entertainment, fashion, marriage, food, hygiene, dwellings, and transportation. Attend an ancient feast to celebrate an imperial birthday, where ale was served in elaborate pitchers before a meal of fourteen hors d'oeuvres and twenty-three courses. Learn which colors concubines used for their eye makeup and beauty marks, and what jealous wives did to discourage such enhancement. See the similarities between today's pubs and the Tang alehouses, where women were hired to dance and sing to encourage patrons to stay longer and spend more money. Decide for yourself why Yangzhou, a city on the Grand Canal close to the Yangtze River, was considered one of the greatest cities in the Tang Dynasty. Benn translates and paraphrases his classical Chinese sources from the Tang era with fresh and polished prose. He also includes his own illustrations of everything from tools and hairstyles to musical instruments and courtyard dwellings. A history of the rise and fall of the dynasty is presented, as is a look at the societal structure of the aristocracy, bureaucracy, eunuchs, clergy, peasants, artisans, merchants, and slaves. This thorough explanation provides fascinating insight into a culture and time that is often misunderstood by Westerners and brings alive both the everyday routine and the timeless splendor of this intellectually and artistically powerful epoch. Enjoy your journey in China's Golden Age, and come back to the present with a greater understanding of this amazing time.

This landmark study provides an integrated analysis of China's unexpected economic boom of the past three decades. The authors combine deep China... expertise with broad disciplinary knowledge to explain China's remarkable combination of high-speed growth and deeply flawed institutions. Their work exposes the mechanisms underpinning the origin and expansion of China's great boom. Penetrating studies track the rise of Chinese capabilities in manufacturing and in research and development. The authors probe both achievements and weaknesses across many sectors, including China's fiscal, legal, and financial institutions. The book shows how an intricate minuet combining China's political system with sectoral development, globalization, resource transfers across geographic and economic space, and partial system reform delivered an astonishing and unprecedented growth spurt. The volume chronicles many shortcomings, but concludes that China's economic expansion is likely to continue during the coming decades.

“Let China sleep, for when she wakes, she will shake the world.” Napoleon’s words seem eerily prescient today, as the shock waves from China’s... awakening reverberate around the globe. Award-winning journalist James Kynge takes measure of the tremors made as China’s ravenous hunger for jobs, raw materials, energy, and food — and its export of goods, workers, and investments — drastically reshapes world trade and politics. Through dramatic stories of the people who are driving China's transformation — entrepreneurs and visionaries, factory workers and store clerks — Kynge describes the breakneck rise of China, the extraordinary problems the country now faces, and the consequences of both.

A work unique in the sweep of its design and scope, intended expressly for the general reader interested in human history and culture, this is a vivid... panoramic survey of the vast course of Chinese civilization from prehistory to 1850, when the old China began the agonizing transition to the new. Historical surveys of China tend to be dynasty-by-dynasty chronicles with a profusion of names and dates and occaisional cultural tidbits, or to concentrate on the period from earliest times to the Han dynasty (or the T'ang), giving only scant coverage to the last thousand years. China's Imperial Past is different. Not only does it treat the three major periods of Chinese history at roughly equal length, weaving all their complexity into a balanced, integrated whole, but it gives ample space to China's magnificent literary and artistic achievements.The author's approach is primarily interpretive, emphasizing patterns of change and development rather than factual details, but he never loses sight of the particularities that made traditional Chinese civilization one of the richest in human history. Especially notable are the many translations of Chinese poetry, among them more than twenty exquisite poems from the great poets of the T'ang.The author divides Chinese history into three major epochs: a formative age, from high antiquity to the unification of China under the Ch'in in the third century B.C.; an early imperial age, from the Han dynasty (202 B.C.-A.D. 220) through the T'ang (618-907) and its breakdown; and a later imperial age, from the Sung dynasty (960-1279) to the mid-nineteenth century. Each major epoch is considered in topical chapters—on general history, political institutions, socioeconomic organization, religion and thought, and literature and the arts. A brief Epilogue comments on aspects of Chinese history since 1850.The book includes 47 plates, eight maps, and various charts, and as appendixes and unusually detailed chronological table, notes on the Chines language, and suggestions for supplementary reading.

This Sourcebook tells the momentous history of China since 1919 from the viewpoints of participants. Over 150 extracts from political statements,... telegrams, speeches, memoirs, letters and poems illuminate the historical development of China from the May Fourth Movement onwards, and answer key questions such as: Has China's modernization over the last 100 years depended on turning to the West? What new problems has growing prosperity created for China? This collection includes many classic documents as well as less accessible extracts, including a number only recently in the public domain. It will be an invaluable source of information for anyone interested in the modern history of China.

China’s rise to global prominence is one of the most remarkable stories of our time.  Millions of urban Chinese today enjoy lifestyles unthinkable in... the days of Chairman Mao’s communist regime, and the country’s leadership has made continuing economic growth their primary goal, helping to transform China into a modern world power.  Rapid change has also created tensions within Chinese society: a new middle class and a small, wealthy elite contrast with a far larger number who feel they have yet to benefit from the new economy. Corruption and abuse of power have emerged as a potent source of discontent across China’s social divide. In this fully revised second edition, China Since 1949 traces key events from the Maoist era through the Reform period to the present day. The promises and challenges of China’s rise are explored within the context of the country’s remarkable transformation and the country’s new position as an international powerhouse.  The ideal text for courses in Chinese Studies.

In this 2008 edition of his path-breaking analysis of political and social change in China since the crackdown in Tiananmen Square in 1989, Joseph... Fewsmith traces developments since 2001. These include the continuing reforms during the final years of Jiang Zemin's premiership and Hu Jintao's succession in 2002. Here the author also considers social trends and how Chinese citizens are starting to have a significant influence on government policies. As Fewsmith - a highly regarded political scientist and a seasoned China-watcher - observes, China is a very different place since Tiananmen Square. In the interim, it has emerged from isolation to become one of the most significant players on the world stage. This book explains the forces that have shaped China since Tiananmen.