Hans Hendrischke is Head of the Department of Chinese and Indonesian Studies at the University of New South Wales.Feng Chongyi is Senior Lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Technology, Sydney.

'The book ... is a source of rich information covering the specific circumstances of the province, the relationship between provinces and other regional divisions, and the economic interaction and competition between provinces. On the whole, this publication has made a positive contribution to understanding the political economy of China's provinces.' - Anja Lahtinen, Studia Orientalia, 2007

• Chapter 1 Provinces in competition, Hans Hendrischke; Chapter 2 Selling Guizhou, TimOakes; Chapter 3 Shaanxi, Watson Andrew, Xueyi Yang, Jiao Jiao; Chapter 4 Uneven development:, J. Bruce Jacobs; Chapter 5 Hubei, Ling Yun Zhao; Chapter 6 Tianjin—quiet achiever?, Hendrischke Hans; Chapter 7 King Coal and Secretary Hu, David S.G.Goodman; Chapter 8 Jiangxi in reform The fear of exclusion and the search for a new identity, ChongyiFeng;