Everyday life in China is increasingly shaped by a novel mix of neoliberal and socialist elements, of individual choices and state objectives. This combination of self-determination and socialism from afar has incited profound changes in the ways individuals think and act in different spheres of society. Covering a vast range of daily life—from homeowner organizations and the users of Internet cafes to self-directed professionals and informed consumers—the essays in Privatizing China create a compelling picture of the burgeoning awareness of self-governing within the postsocialist context. The introduction by Aihwa Ong and Li Zhang presents assemblage as a concept for studying China as a unique postsocialist society created through interactions with global forms. The authors conduct their ethnographic fieldwork in a spectrum of domains—family, community, real estate, business, taxation, politics, labor, health, professions, religion, and consumption—that are infiltrated by new techniques of the self and yet also regulated by broader socialist norms. Privatizing China gives readers a grounded, fine-grained intimacy with the variety and complexity of everyday conduct in China's turbulent transformation.

PRIVATIZING CHINA INSIDE CHINA'S STOCK MARKETS In more depth than any other, this highly readable book lays bare why China's capital markets have fallen so far short of their promise. It is required reading for anyone seeking to understand the realities and the future of an extraordinary economic transformation. - James Kynge, Former Beijing Bureau Chief, Financial Times, Author, China Shakes the World Carl Walter and Fraser Howie bring together a wealth of experience to this complex and deeply important topic. Their book contains a mine of invaluable quantitative and qualitative information as well as an incredible depth of knowledge. It is essential reading for anyone investing in companies from mainland China. - Professor Peter Nolan, Judge Institute of Management Studies, University of Cambridge Privatizing China is essential for anyone who wants to understand China's companies and stock markets. no one should invest in China without reading it. - Arthur Kroeber, Managing Editor, China Economic Quarterly Carl Walter and Fraser Howie combine a deep knowledge of China and finance to provide an unflinching perspective on the country's effort to build functioning capital markets. China may have wowed the world with its high-speed economic growth and manufacturing prowess, but this book is compelling evidence that Beijing's mastery of the universe does not yet extend to the stock market. - Richard MacGregor, beijing Correspodent, FinancialTimes This book will answer many people's questions regarding SOEs and the stock market. I think it is destined to become the standard reference work on the subject. - Jean C. Oi, Director, Center for East Asian Studies, Stanford University

Much is written about the various efforts aimed at reforming China’s state-owned enterprises. But in all this literature the Chinese government’s determined effort to use the equity capital markets as a tool of enterprise reform has been virtually ignored. The fact is that during the past decade this has been, and will continue to be, the principal thrust with regard to the reform of state-owned enterprises. On-again, off-again, noises about bankruptcy, M&A solutions and asset management companies are only sideshows in the process. Carl E. Walter is a Managing Director of JP Morgan and Chief Operating Officer of its China businesses. Prior to joining JP Morgan in 2001, Mr. Walter was a Managing Director and member of the Management Committee of China International Capital Corporation. He was Chief Representative in Beijing for Credit Suisse First Boston from 1993-8. During his decade in China, Mr. Walter has participated in a number of pathbreaking international and domestic share listings and debt issues for Chinese companies, banks and the Ministry of Finance. He holds a PhD from Stanford University and a graduate certificate from Beijing University. Fraser Howie is an independent financial analyst located in Beijing. Over the past ten years he has worked in Hong Kong trading equity derivatives at Bankers Trust and Morgan Stanley. After moving to China in 1998 he worked in the Sales and Trading Department of China International Capital Corporation then with a domestic retail financial services company and most recently with China M&A Management Company.

Although the relative size of the public sector has been much reduced worldwide since the early 1980s, it remains the dominant borrower from the banking system and responsible for the majority of the non-performing assets of banks. Drawing upon new firm-level survey data, this volume assesses how changes in the ownership structure of SOEs affect management, governance, innovation, and performance, comparing these SOEs to other types of firms in China. It also considers China's reform efforts against the experiences of other transition economies. The research reveals that the medium- and longer-term gains from privatization far outweigh costs of adjustment and that the precise mechanics of privatization have little effect on outcomes. The volume argues that privatization of large industrial SOEs and market-based consolidation of small- and medium-sized enterprises will be necessary to transform them into competitive and innovative world-class firms. Chapters include: China's Industrial System: Where is it, Where it Should be Headed, and Why; Reform in China, 1978-1997; The Accelerated Change in Enterprise Ownership, 1997-2003; Chinese Ownership Reform in the East European Mirror; Empirical Evidence on the Effect of SOE Reform in China; and Making Privatization Work.

Financial reform is often seen as the "achilles' heel" of the overall Chinese reform process: this book assesses the stability of the Chinese economy and the nature of its economic governance. Svenja Schlichting examines how internationalization has impacted on financial market development in China and how far this has contributed to the development of new institutions within China.