This collaborative volume​ discusses the One Belt One Road, or the New Silk Road, initiative of Chinese President Xi Jinping from the perspectives of the Belt and Road countries. This initiative has been viewed as a re-globalization drive by China in the backdrop of financial crisis of the West and the latter’s increasingly protectionist tendencies of late. Rather than ‘rebalancing’ towards a certain region, this is supposed to be China’s ‘global rebalancing’ aimed at inclusiveness and a win-win partnership. The initiative has raised hopes as well as suspicions about China's goals and intentions; that is, whether this is in sync with China’s foreign policy goals, such as multipolarity, no hegemonic aspirations, and common security, or if this is an antidote to the U.S. foreign policy goals in the region, and China’s ambition to realizing its long-term vision for Asian regional and global order. In this volume, a galaxy of eminent academics from India, China, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Germany and Southeast Asia have critically analysed every aspect of this mammoth project, including the six major economic corridors identified by China for policy coordination, infrastructure connectivity, unimpeded trade, monetary circulation, and people to people exchanges. The authors have interpreted China’s peripheral, regional as well as global diplomacy both over land and sea. This topical volume is of interest to scholars and students of Asian studies, China studies, Asian history, development studies, international relations and international trade.

The idea that China’s economy needs to rebalance is no longer controversial inside or outside the country. Whether it be the increasing recognition of income inequality at home; the still large external surplus; the focus on consumption and industrial upgrading in the policy discourse; the economic, political and social tensions associated with the major decline in housing affordability; the profound conflict between industrialisation, urbanisation and the biosphere; the profitability gulf between the top SOEs and private firms; or the uni-directional pressures pushing on the real exchange rate; the evidence in favour of a highly imbalanced structure is omnipresent. Rebalancing and Sustaining Growth in China brings together some of the world’s leading observers of the Chinese economy to debate the multifarious questions pertaining to rebalancing. How are we to make sense of the many, often contradictory, proposals that seek the same ultimate objective of a more sustainable growth model? What mix of policies will be most effective in addressing the required structural change without sacrificing prosperity along the way? Where should we look for root causes, and how can we avoid getting distracted by symptoms? How do China’s unique internal migration dynamics – and the Lewis turning point – constrain its options? What role will and should financial, fiscal and welfare reform play in the process? Where do water and energy security fit in? Can China innovate before it gets old – or can China get smart before it gets rich? And are intergenerational issues being taken into account?

While China’s growth gathered momentum in 2017, rebalancing was uneven and decelerated along many dimensions reflecting the temporary factors behind the growth pickup. Going forward, rebalancing is expected to proceed as these temporary factors recede, but elevated income inequality and leverage will remain a challenge. The authorities are already pursuing several pro-rebalancing policies which could be expanded to support each dimension of rebalancing while reducing trade-offs between them.

China's current account surplus has declined to around one-quarter the peak reached before the global financial crisis. While this is a major reduction in China's external imbalance, it has not been accompanied by a decisive shift toward consumption-based growth. Instead, the compression in its external surplus has been accomplished through increasing fixed investment so that it is now an even higher share of China's national economy. This increasing reliance on fixed investment as the main driver of China's growth raises questions about the durability of the compression in the external surplus and the sustainability of the current growth model that has had unprecedented success in lifting about 500 million people out of poverty over the last three decades. This volume examines various aspects of the rebalancing process underway in China, highlighting policy lessons for achieving stable, sustainable, and inclusive growth.

How trade imbalances spurred on the global financial crisis and why we aren't out of trouble yet China's economic growth is sputtering, the Euro is under threat, and the United States is combating serious trade disadvantages. Another Great Depression? Not quite. Noted economist and China expert Michael Pettis argues instead that we are undergoing a critical rebalancing of the world economies. Debunking popular misconceptions, Pettis shows that severe trade imbalances spurred on the recent financial crisis and were the result of unfortunate policies that distorted the savings and consumption patterns of certain nations. Pettis examines the reasons behind these destabilizing policies, and he predicts severe economic dislocations that will have long-lasting effects. Demonstrating how economic policies can carry negative repercussions the world over, The Great Rebalancing sheds urgent light on our globally linked economic future.

‘Re-balancing China’ addresses three key sets of issues in China’s political economy. Part One provides an analysis of the profound effect of the global financial crisis upon China’s economy, as well as the positive impact of the massive rescue package that was implemented in response to the crisis. Part Two focuses on the challenge of globalization for China’s industrial policy. After more than two decades of industrial policy, China still has a negligible number of large firms that are competitive in global markets. China’s experience presents a fundamental challenge to traditional concepts of industrial policy and development. Part Three examines China’s international relations – in particular, its relationship with the US and the interactions between the two countries in the East and South China Seas.