ABSTRACT
Historically, the transformation effects of the market on a society has long been an academic focal point. Karl Polanyi’s groundbreaking book The Great Transformation initiated a classic literature studying the anatomy, the pattern of change and the facilitation of change of the market economy in the nineteenth century. The “self-regulating” nature of market behavior actually energized the world toward an astonishing new phase. The perpetuation of market forces, in fact, may reconcile Sino-American conflict and disagreement by reorienting their focus on gain through trade instead of through military confrontation. China’s government, especially after 1978, gradually internalized the facilitating of market liberalism as an agent of reform. Fortunately, the market, as an agency of change, performs well in regulating the various transactions involved in Chinese society without excessively violating the political ecology of China. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
