Cracking the China Conundrum

By Yukon Huang on September 27, 2017

China’s rise is altering global power relations, reshaping economic debates, and commanding tremendous public attention. Despite extensive media and academic scrutiny, the conventional wisdom about China’s economy is often wrong. Cracking the China Conundrum provides a holistic and contrarian view of China’s major economic, political, and foreign policy issues.

Yukon Huang trenchantly addresses widely accepted yet misguided views in the analysis of China’s economy. He examines arguments about the causes and effects of China’s possible debt and property market bubbles, trade and investment relations with the West, the links between corruption and political liberalization in a growing economy, and Beijing’s more assertive foreign policies. Huang explains that such misconceptions arise in part because China’s economic system is unprecedented in many ways—namely because it’s driven by both the market and state—which complicates the task of designing accurate and adaptable analysis and research. Further, China’s size, regional diversity, and uniquely decentralized administrative system pose difficulties for making generalizations and comparisons from micro to macro levels when trying to interpret China’s economic state accurately.

This book not only interprets the ideologies that experts continue building misguided theories upon, but also examines the contributing factors to this puzzle. Cracking the China Conundrum provides an enlightening and corrective viewpoint on several major economic and political foreign policy concerns currently shaping China’s economic environment. —Oxford University Press

Related Reading:

“What the West Gets Wrong About China’s Economy,” Yukon Huang, Foreign Affairs, September 14, 2017

“Challenging Conventional Wisdom,” Chen Weihua, China Daily, April 28, 2017

“Cracking China’s Debt Conundrum,” Yukon Huang, Financial Times, December 6, 2016

“Despite Slower Growth, China’s Economy Is Undergoing Major Changes,” NPR Interview with Yukon Huang, January 19, 2016

Michael Kovrig

on September 27, 2017

Michael Kovrig is Senior Adviser for North East Asia with the International Crisis Group. He conducts research and provides analysis and advocacy on foreign affairs, geopolitics, and security policy with a focus on China. He previously worked as a Canadian diplomat in Beijing and Hong Kong, at the United Nations in New York as a strategic communication specialist for the U.N. Development Program, and as a China analyst for the firm that is now Rhodium Group. As a foreign service officer with Global Affairs Canada, he worked primarily on global security. A Mandarin Chinese speaker, Kovrig has a Master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University.

As China’s Economy Slows, ‘Business Cults’ Prey on Young Job Seekers

By Javier C. Hernandez and Iris Zhao on September 27, 2017

Some look like high-tech firms, promising young college graduates a fast track to riches. Others pose as charitable groups on a membership drive, or companies building a sales network for a new product. Tens of millions across China are signing up—and learning that all is not as advertised.

Economy
Jobs, Employment, Chinese Communist Party, Unemployment

This Is What World War III with China Might Look Like

By Alfred W. McCoy on September 27, 2017

For the past 50 years, American leaders have been supremely confident that they could suffer military setbacks in places like Cuba or Vietnam without having their system of global hegemony, backed by the world’s wealthiest economy and finest military, affected.

Military, Politics
World War, U.S.-China Relations, International Relations, Global Politics, Military, Rise of China

Chinese Cities Order Steel Output Cuts Earlier Than Expected to Fend off Smog

on September 27, 2017

The city of Handan in the top steelmaking province of Hebei has ordered steel mills to halve output a month earlier than expected, according to media reports, the latest city to ramp up efforts to reduce the smog that blankets northern China during the winter.

Economy, Energy, Environment
Smog, Air Pollution, Environmental Law, Steel, Steel Industry, Pollution

How are NGOs in China Faring under the New Law?

A ChinaFile Conversation

By Holly Snape, Anthony Saich & more on September 27, 2017

In September 2016, Beijing implemented a new law governing charities, which changed the ways domestic charitable organizations can register and fundraise. Then in January 2017, Beijing began implementation of a new law on the management of foreign non-governmental organizations, or NGOs. How have these laws affected the ability of non-profit organizations and charitable enterprises to operate in China? How are these laws changing the dynamics of civil society in China?

China's Cricket Catchers Cashing in on Insects That Can Float Like a Butterfly and Sting Like a Bee

By Mandy Zuo on September 26, 2017

An annual cricket craze is sweeping a rural area of east China as demand for the leaping insects soars among “trainers” who use them for fighting and gambling, online media reported.

Environment, Law, Media, Society
Animal Welfare, Gambling, Rural China, Cricket Fighting