China S Economic And Social Problems

This book discusses important economic and social problems of China. It is based on the author's latest findings from his scholarly research on China's economy, his involvement with China's economic reform and development, and his personal contacts with Chinese academics, entrepreneurs, government officials and ordinary citizens for over thirty years. The book is written in a style accessible to the general reader, since most chapters are based on articles published in three major Chinese newspapers, of which the author is a columnist. It can also serve as a reference book for professionals and a supplementary text for university students. It has four parts covering economic problems, economic studies, economic policy and social problems that are relevant for our understanding of China today.

Since 1978, the opening up and reform in China has brought tremendous economic and social changes. While China’s economic progress has been commendable, the social problems that go with economic changes have raised serious concerns. Some of those concerns are related to gender, ethnic, labor, and environmental issues. This book is about what has happened in these arenas in China since the opening up and reform in 1978. The study of gender, ethnicity, labor, and environment touches on some of the fundamental problems of modernization, especially the development of individuals and groups. So even though gender, ethnicity, labor, and environment seem to be separate issues, they are in fact related in some fundamental ways. That’s what this book will explore as well. To understand is one thing and to do is another. This book also incorporates studies of NGO practices to see how NGOs have helped in transforming gender, ethnic, labor, and environment interplay. Our study of NGOs in helping improve such interplay sheds light on how specifically civil society can prod the state to transform social relations for the better. This book is an attempt to assess the changes, both positive and negative, in gender, ethnic, ethnic, and environmental relations in China especially in the past 30 years of opening up and reform, especially regarding national identity formation. ​

Now, for the first time, a set of influential research papers from the Center for China Studies have been put together in book form and in English, giving fascinating insights into Chinese economics and society.

In the last two decades of the 20th century, China stood out as the world's star performer in economic growth, thanks to the market-oriented reform that started in 1978. At the turn of the century, the Chinese economy faces a series of challenges to sustain its growth and stability. The two-decade-long rapid growth has effectively strengthened China's economic power and raised its people's standard of living. It has also transformed China from a centrally planned command economy into a ?socialist market economy?, which operates increasingly in line with capitalist norms. Major structural problems, however, remain and are growing acute. Weakness in the fiscal system breeds rent seeking at the local level and causes tension in the state budget. The flawed financial institutions and the biased ownership structure continue to distort resource allocation and cause huge efficiency losses. Inter-provincial and inter-regional disparity is reaching a level that threatens national unity and social stability. As China joins the World Trade Organization and becomes more integrated into the world economy, it urgently needs to improve the domestic business environment and to beef up indigenous industries for foreign competition.This volume is a collection of papers written by scholars at the East Asian Institute to address those problems during the period 1999?2001. The authors, with their knowledge and experience in China studies, provide in-depth observations and professional analyses of some of the most important issues for the Chinese economy at the turn of the century. Some of the observations and analyses lead to enlightening policy recommendations. The solid scholarship combined with the policy orientation of these papers will appeal greatly to researchers in academia, governments and other institutions. The policy-oriented and fact-based analyses will also be of interest to practitioners in business, including business consultants.

The Center for China Studies is among China’s most influential think-tanks, and its China Studies Reports are read at the highest levels of government. Now for the first time, the most important of these reports is collected in book form in English, providing a fascinating insight into the challenges and opportunities for Chinese development and the government’s thinking on economic and social issues. Including comparative studies with developed and developing nations, analysis of past economic performance and future trends, and effects of demographic shifts such as population ageing and urbanization, this book is an essential collection of research and includes notes made by central party leaders. Compiled by the founder of the Center for China Studies, one of the country’s leading economists, this book is key to understanding Chinese development and the likely future path of government policy.

How will China reform its economy as it aspires to become the next economic superpower? It's clear that China is the world's next economic superpower. But what isn't so clear is how China will get there by the middle of this century. It now faces tremendous challenges such as fostering innovation, dealing with ageing problem and coping with a less accommodative global environment. In this book, economists from China's leading university and America's best-known think tank offer in depth analyses of these challenges. Does China have enough talent and right policy and institutional mix to transit from input-driven to innovation-driven economy? What does ageing mean, in terms of labor supply, consumption demand and social welfare expenditure? Can China contain the environmental and climate change risks? How should the financial system be transformed in order to continuously support economic growth and keep financial risks under control? What fiscal reforms are required in order to balance between economic efficiency and social harmony? What roles should the state-owned enterprises play in the future Chinese economy? In addition, how will technological competition between the United States and China affect each country's development? Will the Chinese yuan emerge as a major reserve currency, and would this destabilize the international financial system? What will be China's role in the international economic institutions? And will the United States and other established powers accept a growing role for China and the rest of the developing world in the governance of global institutions such as the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund, or will the world devolve into competing blocs? This book provides unique insights into independent analyses and policy recommendations by a group of top Chinese and American scholars. Whether China succeeds or fails in economic reform will have a large impact, not just on China's development, but also on stability and prosperity for the whole world.

With its per capita income surpassing US$10,000, China has now drawn up ambitious plans to further lift its income to the level of developed countries. Yet various constraints need to be overcome if China is to build on the achievements of the last 40 years and further boost its growth potential. Besides these constraints, the year 2020 saw human societies hit heavily by the COVID-19 pandemic and the global economy caught off guard and dipped into recessions caused by lockdown measures for controlling the spread of the pandemic. Nations around the world have experienced grave loss of human life and lockdown measures have knocked economies from their normal growth trajectories. Even as the pandemic continues to unfold, all signs point to China as being the first major economy to have emerged out of the crisis. But many questions remain. Has the Chinese economy emerged from the pandemic crisis relatively unscathed? What are the long-term prospects for its economy? This year’s Update book, China’s Challenges in Moving towards a High-income Economy, explores the challenges faced by the Chinese economy in the transition towards a high-income economy, including agricultural development, finance and fiscal system reform, RMB internationalisation, trends in urbanisation, as well as topics related to innovation, corporate sector development and market competition. China’s growth experience has been full of exciting changes and important lessons for reform and structural changes, and this year’s China Update is again the way to gain insights into these.