Change Of China's Rural Community: A Case Study Of Zhejiang's Jianshanxia Village


Book Description

This book analyzes the industrialization process of Jianshanxia, a mountain village in Zhejiang Province, and its organizational changes since China's reform and opening-up. As a small mountain village far from the city, Jianshanxia Village used its contingent funds to open up a factory collectively owned by the village. At that time, it was common for city dwellers to run a factory in cities but this was still rare in rural areas. The book analyzes how the village could quickly claim a large market share of the domestic electric mosquito incense market. The successful industrialization of the village increased the income of the villagers, improved its appearance and enhanced its collective economic strength. In retrospect, the transformation of this village was a miracle and a typical example of industrialization of township enterprises in China.




Social Transformation and State Governance in China


Book Description

This volume is a selection of Chinese political scholar Xianglin Xu’s published works spanning nearly 20 years of research that explore and discuss the socio-economic transition in China under state political reform. Contextualized within the decades following the 80s, the author analyzes patterns observed from empirical studies, and breaks down the underlining reasoning, conditions and functionalities behind the incremental reform policies pushed forward by the Party and government. The collection is broken up into four sections: the first provides a general framework and theoretical / historical introduction to social transition research in the case of China; the second section discusses the underpinning logic behind political reform in China and practical concerns; the third section follows with discussions on reform policy practices within China including application and trajectory; the final section concludes with an analysis of reform within state institutional infrastructure and policy innovation.




Urbanization and Contemporary Chinese Art


Book Description

This book explores the relationship between the ongoing urbanization in China and the production of contemporary Chinese art since the beginning of the twenty-first century. Wang provides a detailed analysis of artworks and methodologies of art-making from eight contemporary artists who employ a wide range of mediums, including painting, sculpture, photography, installation, video, and performance. She also sheds light on the relationship between these artists and their sociocultural origins, investigating their provocative responses to various processes and problems brought about by Chinese urbanization. With this urbanization comes a fundamental shift of the philosophical and aesthetic foundations in the practice of Chinese art: from a strong affiliation with nature and countryside to one that is complexly associated with the city and the urban world.




Supertrends of Future China


Book Description

The Beijing Olympics in 2008 marks the beginning of an era of new business opportunities in China for 1.3 billion Chinese and the rest of the world. For investors, marketers, and businesspeople who want to understand the new drivers and business chances of the Chinese economy, Supertrends of Future China is the definitive guidebook. The authors ? two experts with decades of experience in Asia and both corporate and entrepreneurial track records ? introduce readers to China's ten supertrends: Value-adding and Innovating, Urbanizing and Servicing, Consuming and Aspiring, Inter-networking and e-Commercializing, Affluencing and Greening. These supertrends form the foundations of the best opportunities in the manufacturing, service, lifestyle, e-Commerce, telecommunications, finance, and environment industries during China's Olympic Decade.This complete book of new China opportunities presents the latest information and analysis from a positive and objective angle, focusing on the potential for business success rather than finger-pointing and fear-mongering. Written by businesspeople for businesspeople, it is an essential book for anybody doing business, investing, or working in China. It will also appeal to general readers interested in China's social, economic, and environmental development.




Rural Reform And Development: A Case Study Of China's Zhejiang Province


Book Description

Since China's reform and opening-up in 1978, Zhejiang province has been one of the country's forerunners in economic, social and political transformation. This book focuses on Zhejiang's rural development and rural governance innovation over the past few decades. The provincial government has formulated favorable policies to facilitate the development of Zhejiang's rural areas since 1978. Zhejiang's farmers, endowed with the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship, have created a rural development model with farmers as the center of marketization, industrialization and urbanization. This book provides systematic analysis of the reform and development in Zhejiang's rural area as a case study of China's reform and opening-up. It offers some of the best economic and governance practices developed over the past few decades in China's rural areas. It also provides invaluable insights into the future development of China's rural areas.




Singapore-china Relations: 50 Years


Book Description

Showcasing the substantive and multi-faceted Singapore-China relationship, this book examines the political, economic, socio-cultural, people-to-people and even military exchanges between the two countries. It also highlights flagship projects and other key private sector-led projects that have become hallmarks of bilateral cooperation.The book argues that the current level of cooperation is built on the earlier foundation laid by Lee Kuan Yew and Deng Xiaoping. In a way, the bilateral relationship is a unique one. For one, Deng Xiaoping had singled out Singapore as a model for China's reforms and China today continues to find Singapore's experience relevant. Singapore is also learning from China in the process. The two countries also have a number of bilateral institutional mechanisms that have become more important in reviewing existing cooperation and identifying new ways of working together.Rather than simply provide an overview of bilateral relations, the book highlights the unique or distinguishing features of the Singapore-China relationship.




The Economics of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)


Book Description

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is a large, complex, and diverse region, which faces a wide range of economic issues. The MENA group includes Algeria, Bahrain, Cyprus, Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. This book uses analytical tools drawn from the trade, labor, finance, and development literature to critically analyze and compare these countries' economic policies. The approach taken in this book is to focus on the economic policies and institutional arrangements which have evolved in MENA and which may serve to explain the differences in each country's economic performance. The key objective of the book is to unravel the context-specific variety of growth-promoting policies within MENA rather than focus on specific countries. This book stresses that the poor performance of Arab MENA can be chiefly explained by their aversion to a Western paradigm of market economics. In the advanced industrial countries and in Israel, “globalization” is largely viewed in economic terms — the free movement of goods, services, labor and capital across borders. In the Arab MENA, however, “globalization” is viewed in largely ideological terms and has been regarded as a new version of imperialism. Consequently, the Arab MENA region remains one of the most un-globalized regions in the world. The book serves as both a textbook and a summary of the very large literature on MENA. It examines the following economic realities of the region and compares them across the MENA economies: Technology gap and comparative developmentThe value of education and human capital developmentWater and food securityThe economics and politics of oilPopulation growth, role of gender, and labor mobilityThe role of the state as economic actorThe economic value of democracyThe prospects for regional integration




Understanding China's Economy


Book Description

In the early 1990's, the world began to recognize China as a rising economic power to reckon with. China's economy is dynamic ? her human and natural resources are plentiful and her economic growth has been well sustained over the last 16 years. In fact, some have predicted that by the year 2020, China's economic output will be close to half that of the US. It is undeniable that China will be an economic giant, if she is not already one today.In this book, the author has traced China's economic development over the last 16 years. The steps and characteristics of China's economic reform are detailed. The prospects for China's economic growth are studied. The author also attempts to analyze topical issues pertaining to China's economic relations with the US and her integration with the other Asian economies. This book provides the interested reader with a bird's eye view of the Chinese economy over the last 16 years. Most chapters are written for the general reader, while a few are for professional economists. For the questions it answers or for those that it raises, this is an important book to read.




China's Exchange Rate System Reform: Lessons For Macroeconomic Policy Management


Book Description

The author of this book is the original proponent of China's exchange rate system reform announced in 2005. This book discusses: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.




Anthropology Of China, The: China As Ethnographic And Theoretical Critique


Book Description

Putting China into the context of general anthropology offers novel insights into its history, culture and society. Studies in the anthropology of China need to look outwards, to other anthropological areas, while at the same time, anthropologists specialised elsewhere cannot afford to ignore contributions from China. This book introduces a number of key themes and in each case describes how the anthropology and ethnography of China relates to the surrounding theories and issues. The themes chosen include the anthropology of intimacy, of morality, of food and of feasting, as well as the anthropology of civilisation, modernity and the state.The Anthropology of China covers both long historical perspectives and ethnographies of the twenty-first century. For the first time, ethnographic perspectives on China are contextualised in comparison with general anthropological debates. Readers are invited to engage in and rethink China's place within the wider world, making it perfect for professional researchers and teachers of anthropology and Chinese history and society, and for advanced undergraduate and graduate study.