This Is China

This Is China contains, in brief, everything we need to know about 5,000 years of history, 30 years of "opening," and a future that promises to shape the 21st century for all of us. Drawn from the vast resources of the Berkshire Encyclopedia of China, this concise 120-page book is recommended for classroom use, curriculum development, and student review.

Ge Zhaoguang, an eminent historian of traditional China and a public intellectual, takes on fundamental questions that shape the domestic and international politics of the world’s most populous country and its second largest economy. What Is China? offers an insider’s account that addresses sensitive problems of Chinese identity and shows how modern scholarship about China—whether conducted in China, East Asia, or the West—has attempted to make sense of the country’s shifting territorial boundaries and its diversity of ethnic groups and cultures. Ge considers, for example, the ancient concept of tianxia, or All-Under-Heaven, which assigned supremacy to the imperial court and lesser status to officials, citizens, tributary states, and tribal peoples. Does China’s government still operate with a belief in divine rule of All-Under-Heaven, or has it taken a different view of other actors, inside and outside its current borders? Responding both to Western theories of the nation-state and to Chinese intellectuals eager to promote “national learning,” Ge offers an insightful and erudite account of how China sees its place in the world. As he wrestles with complex historical and cultural forces guiding the inner workings of an often misunderstood nation, Ge also teases out many nuances of China’s encounter with the contemporary world, using China’s past to explain aspects of its present and to provide insight into various paths the nation might follow as the twenty-first century unfolds.

China has become the world's second biggest economy and its largest exporter. It possesses the world's largest foreign exchange reserves and has 29 companies in the FT 500 list of the world's largest companies. ‘China's Rise' preoccupies the global media, which regularly carry articles suggesting that it is using its financial resources to ‘buy the world'. Is there any truth to this idea? Or is this just scaremongering by Western commentators who have little interest in a balanced presentation of China's role in the global political economy? In this short book Peter Nolan - one of the leading international experts on China and the global economy - probes behind the media rhetoric and shows that the idea that China is buying the world is a myth. Since the 1970s the global business revolution has resulted in an unprecedented degree of industrial concentration. Giant firms from high income countries with leading technologies and brands have greatly increased their investments in developing countries, with China at the forefront. Multinational companies account for over two-thirds of China's high technology output and over ninety percent of its high technology exports. Global firms are deep inside the Chinese business system and are pressing China hard to be permitted to increase their presence without restraints. By contrast, Chinese firms have a negligible presence in the high-income countries - in other words, we are ‘inside them' but they are not yet ‘inside us'. China's 70-odd ‘national champion' firms are protected by the government through state ownership and other support measures. They are in industries such as banking, metals, mining, oil, power, construction, transport, and telecommunications, which tend to make use of high technology products rather than produce these products themselves. Their growth has been based on the rapidly growing home market. China has been unsuccessful so far in its efforts to nurture a group of globally competitive firms with leading global technologies and brands. Whether it will be successful in the future is an open question. This balanced analysis replaces rhetoric with evidence and argument. It provides a much-needed perspective on current debates about China's growing power and it will contribute to a constructive dialogue between China and the West.

News headlines in today's American media are dominated by stories of China's rising economic growth and ambitions toward global power. Few Americans, however, have insight or in-depth understanding of everyday Chinese culture and traditions. After seven years working and living in China as a visiting professor at a top university in the Fujian province, Stephen Ling shares his unique experience of what it's like to be fully immersed in the country of his ancestors. Chinese students are advancing in science and math, but how does this compare to America's educational system? In the aftermath of female infanticide, how is the country dealing with a shortage of women and the troublesome age gap between younger and older generations? President Xi Jinping passed anticorruption laws to encourage the Chinese government to support the people, working toward the "China Dream" of economic prosperity. But why is talking politics too "sensitive" an issue in schools and discouraged among students? As a Chinese American, Ling's distinct observations in This Is China pull back the curtain and expose modern China's social, cultural, and political climate to inquiring Americans. Discover how China is evolving and why it may just be the next global superpower.

This is the first book of its kind to employ hundreds of Chinese sources to explain the history and current state of Chinese Communist intelligence operations. It profiles the leaders, top spies, and important operations in the history of China's espionage organs, and links to an extensive online glossary of Chinese language intelligence and security terms. Peter Mattis and Matthew Brazil present an unprecedented look into the murky world of Chinese espionage both past and present, enabling a better understanding of how pervasive and important its influence is, both in China and abroad.

Undisputedly, China has become the world's manufacturing powerhouse, accounting for around half of all personal computers, digital cameras and kitchen appliances. However, the country is fast transitioning from low-cost manufacturing to a higher-value, innovation-led economy, a critical transformation that is at the heart of this new title. Companies are the essential engines of the wealth-creation process, particularly in the areas of internet and mobile telecommunications, and firms such as Tencent and Xiaomi are showing clear potential to become major players. Demonstrating strong commitment to the country's relentless progress in the realm of innovation, the Chinese government has encouraged the development of a business environment in which firms can experiment, operate and thrive. Created in China provides an examination of the critical human factors at play, as well as re-assessing some of the metrics traditionally used to describe and measure China's capacity for innovation. As Chinese firms begin to transform the country into a truly global innovator, the emerging patterns of future innovation are identified and reviewed. New and dynamic practices are arising that are recognisably Chinese, yet at the same time capable of competing on the world stage. Following the successes of firms such as Huawei, Haier and Lenovo, a growing number of technology-focused firms are now turning their attention towards markets outside of China – a development that will not only benefit the country but will provide exciting opportunities for businesses throughout the world.

A study of how China’s changing economy may leave its rural communities in the dust and launch a political and economic disaster. As the glittering skyline in Shanghai seemingly attests, China has quickly transformed itself from a place of stark poverty into a modern, urban, technologically savvy economic powerhouse. But as Scott Rozelle and Natalie Hell show in Invisible China, the truth is much more complicated and might be a serious cause for concern. China’s growth has relied heavily on unskilled labor. Most of the workers who have fueled the country’s rise come from rural villages and have never been to high school. While this national growth strategy has been effective for three decades, the unskilled wage rate is finally rising, inducing companies inside China to automate at an unprecedented rate and triggering an exodus of companies seeking cheaper labor in other countries. Ten years ago, almost every product for sale in an American Walmart was made in China. Today, that is no longer the case. With the changing demand for labor, China seems to have no good back-up plan. For all of its investment in physical infrastructure, for decades China failed to invest enough in its people. Recent progress may come too late. Drawing on extensive surveys on the ground in China, Rozelle and Hell reveal that while China may be the second-largest economy in the world, its labor force has one of the lowest levels of education of any comparable country. Over half of China’s population—as well as a vast majority of its children—are from rural areas. Their low levels of basic education may leave many unable to find work in the formal workplace as China’s economy changes and manufacturing jobs move elsewhere. In Invisible China, Rozelle and Hell speak not only to an urgent humanitarian concern but also a potential economic crisis that could upend economies and foreign relations around the globe. If too many are left structurally unemployable, the implications both inside and outside of China could be serious. Understanding the situation in China today is essential if we are to avoid a potential crisis of international proportions. This book is an urgent and timely call to action that should be read by economists, policymakers, the business community, and general readers alike. Praise for Invisible China “Stunningly researched.” —TheEconomist, Best Books of the Year (UK) “Invisible China sounds a wake-up call.” —The Strategist “Not to be missed.” —Times Literary Supplement (UK) “[Invisible China] provides an extensive coverage of problems for China in the sphere of human capital development . . . the book is rich in content and is not constrained only to China, but provides important parallels with past and present developments in other countries.” —Journal of Chinese Political Science

With the rapid increase in China's overseas investment and trade, China's global economic clout is increasing by the day. Does China's global economic reach make it an empire in the 21st century? What sort of impact will China's trade and investment have on its global counterparts? Chinese investment projects around the world, from railways in Africa and dams in Latin America to the acquisition of landmark buildings in the US, look to alter global patterns of influence and power. How would other countries react to China's rising international influence? The US government and many Americans deny their country is an empire, although the US status as the leading superpower makes it an empire in all but name. How will China coexist with the US, which has arguably been an imperialist power since the end of World War II? How will the incumbent neo-imperialist power, the US, deal with an emergent China? With its acute analysis of Sino–US relations, the book will interest readers who wish to understand the impact of China on various countries, its place on the world stage as well as the geopolitical implications for all in the 21st century.