Product Description

The new China, the nation that in 25 years has changed beyond all recognition is becoming an industrial powerhouse for the world. James Kynge shows not only the extraordinary rise of the Chinese economy, but what the future holds as China begins to influence the world. On the eve of the British industrial revolution some 230 years ago, China accounted for one third of the global economy. In 1979, after 30 years of Communism, its economy contributed only two per cent to global GDP. Now it is back up to five per cent, and rising. Although China is already a palpable force in the world, its re-emergence is only just starting to be felt. Kynge shows China's weaknesses - its environmental pollution, its crisis in social trust, its weak financial system and the faltering institutions of its governments - which are poised to have disruptive effects on the world. The fall-out from any failure in China's rush to modernity or simply from a temporary economic crash in the Chinese economy would be felt around the world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #35453 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

RICHARD SPENCER, DAILY TELEGRAPH
"gripping"

Review
"balanced and very readable account... China Shakes the World is an excellent book, far more useful and sensible than most business bestsellers or the majority of general introductions to modern China..."

"As Kynges wisely remarks, China owes its emergence as global powers to the freemarket system pioneered by the US, but has very different values from those in most countries that have grown up under the Pax Americana.The more it adapts those values, the more the rest of us are likely to applaud and make way for its continued extraordinary progress." (Chris Patten Financial Times )

"particularly well-written.... brings alive all the complexities and contradictions of China's development.... combines a fresh perspective with an eye for arresting detail." (THE ECONOMIST )

"sweeping, fluent essay... The author's touch is as deft as the brushstrokes in a Chinese landscape... it is the conclusions of the book that make it worth the reading time... He makes a sophisticated argument that by interweaving Chinese interests in peace and prosperity with those of the west, both parties will ultimately benefit. From a global point of view, he explains, China's emergence is of enormous virtue." (SUNDAY TIMES )

"... pungent and discursive... This feels like China as it really is... The conclusions of Kynge's courageous essay are harsh but persuasive." (MARTIN VANDER WEYER SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )

"he is admirably knowledgeable about the subject and the country. He tells the story of China's rise with sympathy and insight." (THE GUARDIAN )

"a business book, but one with a strongly beating human heart,and it's a splendid introduction to what is happening in, and to, China today. What Kynge brings to the subject is a real passion fuelled by his years living there, which has also given him a depth and sophistication that few other China books can match." (IRISH TIMES )

"James Kynge's absorbing essay on the global effects of China's emergence as an economic superpower is filled with...telling colour and detail... he offers a wide-ranging analysis of the unprecendented challenge which China now offers to the West." (SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY )

"gripping" (RICHARD SPENCER DAILY TELEGRAPH )

"captures the ambivalence that many intelligent people feel about the rise of China... excellent reporting." (FAR EASTERN ECONOMIC REVIEW )

"an in-depth study of China's recent , rapid economic growth... analyses the implications of this on the balance of world power and the global environment." (FINANCIAL TIMES - SUMMER BOOKS )

"This is the best type of reporter's book. Through direct observation and interviews James Kynge captures the awesome global phenomenon that is China... he draws thought-provoking conclusions." (THE TABLET )

"looks at China's rise from the inside out." (TRAVELLER MAGAZINE )

"If you can't make time to visit China - and you really, really should - invest some hours in this book instead to glean valuable insights into the coming revolution... switches seamlessly between critical and enamored, objective and immersed, from discerning detail to sweeping statement, backed by facts, figures and examples of a first class reporter." (BLOOMBERG )

"A sweeping and fluent account of how China is changing every aspect of the modern world." (SUNDAY TIMES - SUMMER BOOKS )

TRAVELLER MAGAZINE
"looks at China's rise from the inside out."

Customer Reviews

Excellent
Unlike most books on China, this one does not concentrate on how to do business there, but rather on how Chinese business practices and economic prospects are affecting the whole world. Hardly a sensationalist, Mr. Kynge nevertheless arrives at highly troubling conclusions: China has vast potential for growth, but is also full of very real weaknesses - a combination that can throw the global economy into turmoil if it becomes unbalanced.

The author writes in a fluid easy to read style that grabs your attention, with personal stories and observations, while also providing enough data to make his points convincingly.

A business book that outclasses the rest
Anyone unimpressed by the general run of business books will find this a refreshing exception. First up, it is beautifully crafted. James Kynge brings an evocative personal perspective to China and the Chinese. The former Financial Times bureau chief in Beijing also has a topic which is vast and important - the book's publisher has classified it as history, not business. The themes - not least how it has taken a nominally socialist bureaucracy to destroy hundreds of billions of dollars worth of foreign capitalists' intellectual property - are intriguing, amusing and insightful. The book also bravely touches on issues such as the way China is ravaging the environment, its own and that of its neighbours. A rare buy-two-copies-and-give-one-to-a-friend book that is far better than the much-hyped The World is Flat, by Thomas L. Friedman, which takes a rather banal conceit and milks it dry.

good presentation but remains outside observations
This is a very serious book on China written by a veteran journalist. Good story, but its understanding about China vast changes and factors behind remains very much on the surface. One basic weakness is its insufficient knowledge about the Chinese communist government and its motives for reform. A more insightful book on this issue comes from a Chinese reporter named George Zhibin Gu: China and the new world order, which identifies China's main problem: a self-appointed, overextended, and abusive government bureaucracy. Both books should be helpful in understanding what is inside China and its changing relations with the world.