by Lawrence Juen-Yee Lau (Author)
Since China undertook economic reform and opened its economy to the world in the late 1970s, its economy has been growing at an average annual rate of over 9 percent for more than four decades. No other economy in recorded history has grown at such a high rate and for such a long period as China has done. The questions that naturally arise are: Was the Chinese economy a miracle? Or was it a mere bubble? Will the Chinese economy begin to stagnate like the Japanese economy did in the 1990s, and perhaps decline? Will it be able to escape the 'middle-income trap'? If it is not a miracle, can the Chinese development experience be replicated elsewhere?This book provides a comprehensive and detailed discussion of the remarkable growth of the Chinese economy over the past decades, by scrutinising the sources of economic growth. It also evaluates the strategies adopted by the Chinese government to promote the transition from a centrally-planned economy to a market-based economy through the 'dual-track' approach. It is argued that, while the Chinese economy is unique and exceptional in many ways, its development experience can be explained and attributed.