Although China's economy has grown rapidly in recent decades, there are still very large differences between the economies of mainland China and those of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. This book considers how far economic convergence between these four territories has occurred, and the prospects for increased convergence in the future.

Although China's economy has grown very rapidly in recent decades, there are still very large differences between the economy of mainland China and the economies of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. For example, per capita income in Hong Kong is many, many times higher than per capita income in mainland China. This book considers the degree to which economic convergence between mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan has occurred, and the prospects for increased convergence in the future. It considers economic integration between China and its two Special Administrative Regions (SARS), emphasising the large volume of capital flows and exports, especially from Hong Kong into China, and showing that the economies are highly integrated, despites their differences. It examines income convergence, and changes in productivity, using the same measures for both China and the two SARS, unlike most existing studies. It explores how economic reforms have been crucial to increasing convergence so far, and will continue to be in the future, and concludes by discussing the implications for policy of encouraging increased convergence.

This book, first published in 1996, focuses on the possible (but problematic) emergence of a so-called ‘Greater China’ encompassing mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and the economic reforms, inward investment, spatial disparities, and changes to business culture that would ensue. The similarities, differences, underpinnings, results and prospects for the future of Greater China are analysed in close detail in the chapters collected here.

This book examines the credit needs and the borrowing behaviour of rural households in China in recent years. It is based on in-depth analysis of the status of households’ indebtedness and borrowing behaviour; the performance of Rural Credit Cooperatives (RCCs), as well as resources of informal finance. Before 2006, RCCs are virtually the only source of formal credit for rural households in China and were subject to a series of reforms from 1996 to 2003. The reforms aimed to transform RCCs into market-oriented institutions and, more importantly, help them meet the increasing demands of farmers for varied financial services, and thereby contribute effectively to economic transformation in rural China. Based on a micro-study of three villages, at different stages of development with dissimilar economic characteristics in Jiangxi province, this book investigates the sources of finance, formal and informal, in rural areas and the different types of credit that farmers require. It examines the patterns of credit required by rural households at different stages of agricultural processes, and the institutions from which they obtain loans. It demonstrates the importance of innovative institutional arrangements in rural China and new instruments that give farmers access to formal rural financial markets and enable them to utilize credit effectively, concluding that further reforms to RCCs are necessary for RCCs to be truly effective.

This book is part of a series which makes available to English-speaking audiences the work of the individual Chinese economists who were the architects of China’s economic reform. The series provides an inside view of China’s economic reform, revealing the thinking of the reformers themselves, unlike many other books on China’s economic reform which are written by outside observers. Yu Guangyuan (1915-) is a famous Chinese philosopher and economist. A member of the Chinese Communist Party from 1937, he has made significant contributions in the fields of Marxist theory and in state planning. He was head of the Political Research Office of the State Council from 1975 and the first director of the Economic Research Institute of the State Planning Commission. He has held many other important posts, and was editor-in-chief of the "Dictionary of Economics". The book is published in association with China Development Research Foundation, one of the leading economic and social think tanks in China, where many of the theoretical foundations and policy details of economic reform were formulated.

This book is part of a series which makes available to English-speaking audiences the work of the individual Chinese economists who were the architects of China’s economic reform. The series provides an inside view of China’s economic reform, revealing the thinking of the reformers themselves, unlike many other books on China’s economic reform which are written by outside observers. Chen Xiwen (1950-) has made major contributions to economic policy making on agricultural development and the rural economy. Although born in Shanghai he was one of the young people sent down to the countryside in the late 1960s to work in a production and construction corps. He has held a number of government and academic positions, notably director of the Rural Economy Research Department of the State Council and Vice President of the Development Research Centre of the State Council. The book is published in association with China Development Research Foundation, one of the leading economic and social think tanks in China, where many of the theoretical foundations and policy details of economic reform were formulated.

This book examines key aspects of China’s coal industry which illustrate the political economy of China’s economic transformation. It sheds light on the broader issues of China’s transition from socialism to capitalism, focussing on the shift to a market economy, the rise of rural industry and the situation of China’s working class.

This book is part of a series which makes available to English-speaking audiences the work of the individual Chinese economists who were the architects of China’s economic reform. The series provides an inside view of China’s economic reform, revealing the thinking of the reformers themselves, unlike many other books on China’s economic reform which are written by outside observers. Lou Jiwei (1950-) has been a leading researcher on economic restructuring and macroeconomic policy in a range of Chinese policy-making organisations. He has made important contributions to policy in the fields of tax, accounting, finance and banking. In the 1990s a vice minister of finance, and from 2007 deputy secretary-general of the State Council, he is also at present head of China’s sovereign wealth fund. The book is published in association with China Development Research Foundation, one of the leading economic and social think tanks in China, where many of the theoretical foundations and policy details of economic reform were formulated.

China Development Research Foundation is one the leading economic think tanks in China, providing a base where many leading Chinese economists have developed the details of Chinese economic reform. This book is the second of a series which makes available to an English-speaking audience the work of the individual Chinese economists who were the architects of reform. The series provides an inside view of China’s economic reform, revealing the thinking of the reformers themselves, unlike many other books on China’s economic reform which are written by outside observers. Guo Shuqing has made major contributions to the thinking underlying China's economic reforms and to the practical implementation of several of those reforms.

This book examines China’s response to the 2007-2008 global financial crisis, and the resulting new status acquired by China within the international economy. It considers the things China did to weather the crisis, discussing the stimulus package put in place by China and how China’s banks coped, but above all examines the measures which countries outside China look to China to put in place in order to better encourage and secure world-wide economic recovery, measures such as currency revaluation, tax reform and greater stimulation of domestic demand. The book contrasts China’s response to the crisis, and China’s increasingly central role in the world economy, with the responses of the European Union. The book also assesses China’s increasingly important regional role, in particular its dialogue with the new Japanese government, and China’s positioning towards Southeast Asia, and also discusses the growth of Chinese foreign direct investment.