ABSTRACT
There is an idiosyncratic relationship and constructive tension between the centralised state and the developing market in contemporary China. This chapter outlines the aim of the book, which is to examine how changes in the socio-political system, the residual influence of Mao and the demands of the market have all affected Chinese architecture in recent times. It is crucial to position contemporary Chinese architecture accurately in its historical, as well as its international context, in order to clarify its relationship with the global system. This chapter presents the factors in the following architectural analysis in the book: the global and domestic markets, the West, the East, the state, the architects themselves and the shifting perception of modernity – all these elements are decisive factors in shaping contemporary Chinese architecture, with different impacts on different cases under different versions of socialism.