Product Description

The rise of China as a great power is one of the most important developments in the 21st Century. But, despite dramatic economic progress, China's prospects remain uncertain. In a book sure to provoke debate, Minxin Pei examines the sustainability of the Chinese Communist Party's reform strategy - pursuing pro-market economic policies under one-party rule. Pei casts doubt on three central explanations for why China's strategy works: sustained economic development will lead to political liberalisation and democratisation; gradualist economic transition is a strategy superior to the 'shock therapy' prescribed for the former Soviet Union; and a neo-authoritarian developmental state is essential to economic take-off. Pei argues that because the Communist Party must retain significant economic control to ensure its political survival, gradualism will ultimately fail. The lack of democratic reforms in China has led to pervasive corruption and a breakdown in political accountability. What has emerged is a decentralised predatory state in which local party bosses have effectively privatised the state's authority. Collusive corruption is widespread and governance is deteriorating. Instead of evolving toward a full market economy, China is trapped in partial economic and political reforms. Combining powerful insights with empirical research, "China's Trapped Transition" offers a provocative assessment of China's future as a great power.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #925686 in Books
• Published on: 2006-04-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 308 pages

About the Author
Minxin Pei is Senior Associate and Director of the China Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Customer Reviews

serious attempt but too much western concept applied to China
China is going through vast transition pains. This book is a serious attempt to understand the things behind. But it employs too much western concept to apply to China, which makes its discussions less penetrating. A more revealing and insightful book on Chinese politics and business is written by a Chinese commentator George Zhibin Gu: China's global reach: markets, multinationals, and globalization, which gives sweeping views on the challenges China confronts, especially the abusive bureaucracy.

A book that will change your mind about China's development
Nobody can possibly deny China's rising star. There is a wealth of positive information - even in times of recession. But only few people realize that most of the information that comes to us is about economy. In many other aspects, such as society, governance, regulation, education or safety, China's performance is largely unknown in the west.

Minxin Pei shows the reader around, not only in the country's showrooms like Beijing or Shanghai, but also in many other parts of this large country. The book is full of case studies and anecdotes, providing the reader with an interesting picture of an underexposed world. But he also provides a theoretical framework that helps us to understand what has happened in the country during the past five decades, and what may happen in the future.

The image that Minxin Pei draws is not the sunny picture of China, that we usually see, but it is a picture that we cannot deny too. It makes us better understand how long China's road to wealth is going to be, and the magnitude of problems that still have to be resolved.