ABSTRACT

In the completely revised second edition of this highly praised book, Susumu Yabuki, one of Japan's leading China experts, and Stephen M. Harner, A Shanghai-based investment banker, present a comprehensive and accessible analysis of China's political economy.The authors provide dozens of easy-to-grasp and up-to-date graphs, charts, tables, and maps to illustrate the reality of China, as they explain and comment on political, economic, financial and trade trends.Placing issues in historical perspective, and with a view to trends into the twenty-first century, the authors survey the realities of China's area and population, agriculture, energy needs, pollution, industrial structure, township and village enterprises, state-owned enterprise reform, unemployment, economic regions, foreign investment, state finances, fiscal and monetary policy, China's financial institutions, foreign financial institutions in China, stock markets, international finance, balance of payments and exchange rate policy, corporate finance, the role of Shanghai, government institution reform, foreign trade, the roles of Hong Kong and Taiwan, U.S.-China relations, and Japan-China relations.Useful as an introduction to China's economics, finance, and politics for students, and as a desktop reference volume for corporations, organizations, and individuals considering doing business in China, this unique study fills a genuine gap in the literature.

chapter |6 pages

Introduction

Six Realities and Unrealities About the Chinese Economy

part One|40 pages

Toward a Basic Understanding of the Chinese Economy

chapter 1|5 pages

A Huge Country

An Amalgamation of “Small Countries”

chapter 2|9 pages

Population Pressure

The Challenge of 1.6 Billion People in 2030

chapter 4|7 pages

The Political System

The Role of the Chinese Communist Party as the “Conservative Party”

chapter 5|6 pages

Economic System Reform

The Progress of the Market Economy Program

part Two|109 pages

Some Domestic Economic Problems

chapter 6|8 pages

Economic Growth

A Low-Income Country on a Fast-Growth Path

chapter 7|5 pages

Food Production

Ensuring 500 Million Tons of Grain for 1.3 Billion People

chapter 8|9 pages

Energy

Shift to Dependency on Coal and Imported Oil

chapter 9|10 pages

Environmental Destruction

The Status of Air Pollution and Policies to Improve Air Quality

chapter 10|9 pages

Income Disparity

Can Economic Growth Close the Gap?

chapter 11|9 pages

Regional Disparity

Disparities Between East and West and Among the Coastal Provinces

chapter 12|8 pages

The Consumption Revolution

The Chinese Market—Toward Multistrata Development

chapter 13|9 pages

Industry Structure

Structural Adjustment Occurring Alongside Growth

chapter 14|13 pages

State-Owned Enterprises

The Difficulty of Letting “Socialism” Die Naturally

chapter 15|7 pages

Unemployment

An Ambush of SOE Reform

chapter 16|5 pages

Township and Village Enterprises

Engines of Transformation for China’s Villages

chapter 17|7 pages

Regional Economics

Potential for a Yangtze River Economic Region

part Three|71 pages

State Finances, Financial Institutions and Markets, and Government Institution Reform

chapter 19|9 pages

China’s Banking System

From the Planned Economy to True Financial Intermediation

chapter 20|4 pages

China’s Stock Markets

Effecting Fundamental Changes in China’s Economic and Social Life

chapter 21|10 pages

China in the International Financial Markets

Becoming a Major Factor

chapter 22|5 pages

Foreign Financial Institutions in China

Yearning to Play a Larger Role

chapter 23|7 pages

Corporate and Project Finance in China

chapter 24|9 pages

Shanghai

China’s Commercial and Trading Center

chapter 25|9 pages

Government Administrative Structure Reform

Breaking Down “Little Empires”

part Four|52 pages

Foreign Trade, Foreign Capital, and External Economic Relations

chapter 26|8 pages

Foreign Trade

Movement Toward an Open Economic System

chapter 27|6 pages

Foreign Capital

Foreign-Invested Companies Are Transforming the Chinese Economy

chapter 28|9 pages

The Asian Financial Crisis and the RMB

China’s Balance of Payments and the Power of US$140 Billion in Foreign Exchange Reserves

chapter 29|9 pages

Hong Kong and Taiwan

Economic Relations Among the “Three Chinas”

chapter 30|8 pages

U.S.-China Relations

Realpolitik Between “Equal” Powers

chapter 31|8 pages

Japan-China Relations

An Ambivalent Relationship Between Neighboring Countries