ABSTRACT
Introduction To understand China’s media, it is essential to know about the nation’s culture, political-economic structure and the relationship between the center and regions’ intra central-local relations, as each of them are closely linked with, and influence, the overall direction of media development. This chapter reviews China’s culture and political power structures, and the country’s economic reform after 1978, and their effect on society and politics. The chapter emphasizes the prominence of regional disparities and the increasing tension between the central authority and local governments as a result of the country’s economic reform and fiscal decentralization. Despite the continuity of an economic liberalization and political authoritarian governing mode, the chapter reveals how the Party-State gradually adjusted its economic and social policy in responding to its international interdependence and domestic social discontent.
