ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overall view of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explains that retail sector is an integral part of a nation's economy. The information and data are processed and analyzed to reconstruct the process of change and development, and to reveal the impact and consequences both economic and geographical. The book should be a useful and valuable reader not only for university students and faculty researchers in business management and economic geography, but also for international retailers and commercial real estate developers, who contemplate business and investment opportunities in China. The notion of Chinese characteristics is touted simply to defend the legitimacy of the communist party as the sole governing body, and the Chinese characteristics may only represent transitory phases of a long process of economic transition. The changes in China are also analyzed and interpreted in contrast to the characteristics and recent trends of the contemporary capitalist retail economy.
