ABSTRACT
The modern Chinese state has traditionally affected every major aspect of the domestic society. With the growing liberalization of the economy, coupled with an increasing complexity of social issues, there emerges a belief that the state is retreating from an array of social problems from health (Duckett 2010) to the environment (Wu 2011). Yet, as we survey China's political landscape today, we see that not only is the central state playing an active role in managing social problems, but new state actors at the local level are increasingly seeking to partner with various non-governmental organizations or social associations to ensure the continuing presence, legitimacy and viability of the state. In this context, this book brings together a series of inter-connected chapters that examine how a corporatist understanding of state-society relations may be reconstituted in light of new social stakeholders emerging to the forefront, and thereafter play a greater role in managing contemporary social issues.
