Introduction

Harnessing the forces of regionalism for the benefit of the nation has been a goal of Chinese rulers since ancient times. The beef industry provides useful and novel insights into the process of regionalisation in China for several reasons. Although cattle have long played an important role in the Chinese agricultural economy, specific production, management and marketing systems to raise cattle for beef have emerged only over the last two decades and are still evolving. Regional aspects of the beef industry warrant investigation in their own right. Beef is an important livestock product in China, and the beef industry is immense by world standards. The evolution of the beef industry towards a modern commercial industry against a background of general transformation in the wider economy reveals much about the processes of regionalisation currently at work in China. The chapter also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.