The China Miracle: Development Strategy and Economic Reform (A Friedman lecture fund monograph)

The tremendous success of China's economic reform, in contrast with the vast difficulties encountered by the transition in the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries, has attracted worldwide attention. Using a historic, comparative and analytic approach grounded in mainstream economics, this systematic study of China's economic development and reform distinguishes itself from similar studies. The authors have developed a consistent and rational framework of state, enterprises, and individual agents to analyze the internal logic of the traditional planning system. Four related issues have also been addressed: (1) Why did the Chinese economy grow slowly before the market-oriented reform in 1979 but become one of the fastest growing economies afterwards? (2) Why did a "vigour/chaos" cycle become part of China's reform process? (3) Can China continue the trend of reform and development and become the largest economy in the world in the early 21st century? (4) What are the general implications of China's experience of development and reform for other developing and transition economies? This original study will be a good reference to scholars of the Chinese economy, and of transition and development economics. It will also be of interest to general readers interested in China's future development.