ABSTRACT
China's rise as an economic and political superpower, and the puzzles and contradictions that are obviously connected to the country's development path, often irritate politicians, the public and even academic experts, at least in Western countries. There is an urgent need to establish a more solid understanding of the factors and processes behind China's development. Such an understanding would ideally explain the evidence found in China and allow for informed projections of future developments. Unfortunately, there is no single theory that can explain China's development and its contradictions. Moreover, scientists frequently have difficulties linking their empirical findings to established theories.
