ABSTRACT
China has changed significantly over the past five years. Writing prior to that time (see Warner, 1997), we noted that it had experienced substantial economic reforms since 1978, the date of Deng Xiaoping’s ‘Open Door’ policy initiative, let alone 1949 when the People’s Republic was set up. The rate of change in the ‘Middle Kingdom’ since the original assessment was completed has accelerated even further, as the country experienced further sustained economic growth and a ‘deepening’ of reforms in the run-up to entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO).1
