China's largest metropolis, Shanghai, has undergone a decade of far-reaching economic and social transformation. This book presents an evocative and richly nuanced series of ethnographic perspectives of the city's shifting sociological landscape in this period of transition. It is based upon research conducted over the past 10 years. The topics explored range from the perceived consequences of Shanghai's more porous boundaries to intra-national and global flows of people, capital and cultural items, to notions of 'Shanghaiese' identity, the impact of mass consumerism and the work of share dealers in Shanghai's recently recreated stock exchange. The book builds upwards from street level perspectives and stresses ways in which the lives of Shanghai citizens are implicated with wider historical, political and economic phenomena.

In the decades following the introduction of Communist Party rule in Shanghai in 1949, the city's economy, infrastructure and links with the world all atrophied. However, the past decade has seen far-reaching economic reforms implemented to recreate Shanghai as a cosmopolitan, world financial and trade centre. This book focuses on the lives of local residents and their perceptions of their changing city, and presents an evocative series of ethnographic perspectives of the city's shifting sociological landscape in this period of transition.

"The dramatic, real-life stories of four young people caught up in the mass exodus of Shanghai in the wake of China's 1949 Communist Revolution--a precursor to the struggles faced by emigrants today. Shanghai has historically been China's jewel, its richest, most modern and westernized city. The bustling metropolis was home to sophisticated intellectuals, entrepreneurs, and a thriving middle class when Mao's proletarian revolution emerged victorious from the long civil war. Terrified of the horrors the Communists would wreak upon their lives, citizens of Shanghai who could afford to fled in every direction. Seventy years later, the last generation to fully recall this massive exodus have opened the story to Chinese American journalist Helen Zia, who interviewed hundreds of exiles about their journey through one of the most tumultuous events of the twentieth century. From these moving accounts, Zia weaves the story of four young Shanghai residents who wrestled with the decision to abandon everything for an uncertain life as refugees in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the U.S. Young Benny, who as a teenager became the unwilling heir to his father's dark wartime legacy, must choose between escaping Hong Kong or navigating the intricacies of a newly Communist China. The resolute Annuo, forced to flee her home with her father, a defeated Nationalist official, becomes an unwelcome young exile in Taiwan. The financially strapped Ho fights deportation in order to continue his studies in the U.S. while his family struggles at home. And Bing, given away by her poor parents, faces the prospect of a new life among strangers in America"--

This book examines the condition of being a young person in China and the way in which changes in various dimensions of urban life have affected Chinese youths' quests to understand themselves. The author examines social factors such as changes in the physical construction of urban neighbourhoods; changes in family life including reduced family size, increasing rates of divorce and increased physical mobility of the family unit; school life and mounting pressure to perform well in examinations and be a good student; access to foreign and domestic media as well as access to the internet. Drawing on the fields of social and cultural anthropology, Alex Cockain shows that the process of self understanding in a changing spatial, social and cultural world involves ongoing disjointed efforts to achieve a sense of security and belonging on the one hand and a degree of increased autonomy in their relationships with, for example, parents and teachers on the other. This book will appeal to anyone interested in Chinese Society, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Asian Anthropology and Youth Studies.

This collection contains an introductory essay by Wang Gungwu and 22 studies originally read to an international conference organized by the Department of History, National University of Singapore. The contributions investigate diverse aspects of coastal Chinas commercial, demographic and other ties with the Nanyang region and other maritime areas, such as Japan, mainly in the period circa 1750-1850. This includes themes related to the microlevel of local changes, such as Chinese migration to Taiwan and various Southeast Asian destinations, as well as broader approaches to regional, institutional and other trends, combining philological and theoretical knowledge. In most cases both Asian and colonial sources were used to illustrate the dynamics of Chinas maritime orientation under the Qing, the growth of its overseas communities, and the impact of Chinese traders and sojourners on Europes outposts in the Malay world and around the South China Sea.

The most comprehensive English-language overview of the modern Chinese economy, covering China's economic development since 1949 and post-1978 reforms--from industrial change and agricultural organization to science and technology.

Revenue reforms can contribute to more inclusive, green, and sustainable growth in China. Relative to OECD economies, fiscal policy in China is less redistributive. Options for promoting more inclusive growth include improving the progressivity of labor taxes (individual income tax and social security contributions), introducing a recurrent property tax, and finishing the transition to a comprehensive value-added tax. Higher environmental taxes, meanwhile, would promote more environment-friendly economy. These reforms could also significantly boost revenue, potentially by as much as 61⁄2 percent of GDP. Such increases in revenue could help reduce the deficit, finance priority social and infrastructure spending, and offset cuts in other taxes. We illustrate how these revenue reforms could be part of a comprehensive fiscal package that achieves the needed consolidation in the (augmented) deficit and foster higher quality growth.