Litao Zhao – författare

In China, social development has fallen far behind economic development. This book looks at why this is the case, and poses the question of whether the conditions, structures and institutions that have locked China into unbalanced development are changing to pave the way for the next stage of development. Based on an empirical examination of ideological, structural and institutional transformations that have shaped China’s development experiences, the book analyses China’s reform and development in the social domain, including pension, healthcare, public housing, ethnic policy, and public expenditure on social programs. The book moves beyond descriptive analyses to understand the role of broader changes in shaping and redefining the pattern of development in China.

In China, social development has fallen far behind economic development. This book looks at why this is the case, and poses the question of whether the conditions, structures and institutions that have locked China into unbalanced development are changing to pave the way for the next stage of development. Based on an empirical examination of ideological, structural and institutional transformations that have shaped China’s development experiences, the book analyses China’s reform and development in the social domain, including pension, healthcare, public housing, ethnic policy, and public expenditure on social programs. The book moves beyond descriptive analyses to understand the role of broader changes in shaping and redefining the pattern of development in China.

This book is a collection of essays in honour of Professor Wang Gungwu. Professor Wang is not only a great historian on Chinese history in general and the Chinese overseas in particular, but has much wider influence through remarkable domain crossing, namely spatial crossing characterised by geographical straddling between inside and outside of China, temporal crossing from the ancient past to the contemporary, inter-disciplinary crossing from history to the social sciences, and intellectual crossing from the academia to public activism. He has been a long-lasting source of inspiration for understanding some of the most pressing and complex issues in our times, including the nature of China's rise and its implications for the regional and world order. In a nutshell, this book presents Wang as a highly active educator-scholar who has achieved the highest academic standard as well as far-reaching influence over issues that concern all walks of life.By focusing on the theme of Chineseness and China's modernity, this book adds depth to the analysis of China's rise and its implications for the region and the world. It contains a chapter providing the most comprehensive and updated review of Wang's scholarship thus far. Another chapter demonstrates how Wang, based on his deep understanding of Chinese civilisation and history, articulates a distinct view of the world order that differs from either the thesis of "Thucydides's trap" or the advocacy of mutual accommodation. Interestingly, this book also includes a chapter that highlights Wang's "Southeast Asian-ness", suggesting that Wang's scholarship cautions against not only western-centric views towards China, but also Sino-centric views towards Southeast Asia. In short, this edited volume is both a reference book for understanding Wang's scholarship and an extension of his scholarship to the analysis of China's growing international influence and its implications for the world order.

This book consists of papers presented at the International Conference on “China: The Next Decade”, organized by the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore in 2007 to commemorate the Institute's 10th anniversary. With eight papers covering China's economic, social and political development, this volume offers a balanced yet in-depth assessment of the challenges facing China in the next decade.Featuring contributions from internationally renowned scholars, this timely volume analyzes key aspects of China's reforms and development, such as the financial reform, international trade, leadership succession, social protests, health care reform and ethnic relationships. It is suitable for China scholars as well as advanced undergraduate and graduate students interested in China's polity, economy and society.

China has made remarkable yet uneven progress in social development. This book analyses China's achievements and problems in social development from the perspective of social investment. Social investment has gained popularity in Europe as a new social policy paradigm. It seeks to use government budget more efficiently and effectively by investing in people rather than "social consumption".This book focuses on a few policy areas central to social investment and capacity building, including education, technical training, R&D, and the hukou reform. It also analyses challenges and limitations of China's social investment policies. It sheds light on the most notable feature of China's social investment regime, which is the concentration of resources, privileges, and policy support on sectors and institutions with more growth potential. This helps to explain why China's progress in social development is remarkable but unequal.

As China has become the world's second largest economy and risen rapidly amid various internal and external challenges, its profound social transformation and changing social policies are seemingly receiving inadequate attention from both academic and policy communities, especially in the Xi Jinping era since 2013. After decades of development, new social values, behaviours and organisations have emerged in China. Social changes and unresolved social issues are demanding for policy attention and proper governance.This book studies the important aspects of China's social transformation, policy and governance in recent years, including social stability maintenance, education, social media, industrial de-capacity and lay-off campaign, ethnic minority and ethnic policy, elderly care, poverty reduction and social governance. It will enable readers to have a better understanding of China's most important and pressing social issues and relevant social policies.