The book is a comprehensive introduction to China, necessary for an understanding of the vast nation. It covers the fundamentals of China’s system: polity, society and economy, a narrative gently overlapping with nuggets of China’s rich culture and history, and introduces to us China’s territorial and population size, diversity of physical environments, diversity in natural resource endowment, ethnic groups, administrative hierarchy and important landmarks in its political economy — all of which, as the latter part of the title suggests, are driving forces behind modern China.
Thus, we learn of the significance of China’s Yellow River, perceived as the cradle of China’s civilisation, and the popular Chinese view that they are the descendants of the Hua-Xia people (Hua people who settled in the middle reaches of the Yellow River valley, together with the Xia people who established themselves near the Xia river — located in the central-southern region of the Shaanxi province). There are other interesting details — such as when China came to be called Zhongguo, centre of heaven during the Zhou dynasty; China’s unification under Emperor Qin Shihuang in 221 BC; and the lasting impact of the Mongols who, in 1279 AD, under the leadership of Genghis Khan, established the Yuan dynasty and controlled China for 88 years. This period also marked the first conversion of the Chinese (in the northwest and the southwest) to Islam. Incidentally, China’s last reigning dynasty was also a minority-based dynasty, established by the Manchus who rose to power in Manchuria.
We also learn about China’s political system and administrative hierarchy, different regions of the country (such as North China, North-east, East, Central-south, South-west and North-west), geographical belts such as eastern (along the coast, with 13.5 per cent of the land area) and western belt (with 56.7 per cent of land area); the attitudinal divide between China’s North and South; and China’s ethno-cultural areas — such as the ethnically based, autonomous region of Inner Mongolia which was established in 1947.
The author also introduces the political system and simplifies China’s administrative hierarchy. In China’s administrative hierarchy, the first rung — sheng (provinces), zizhiqu (autonomous) and zhixiashi (which are municipalities directly under the central government) — is of the size and scale of a European country. China’s autonomous regions are established where ethnic minorities comprise the large majority of the population. The second rung consists of prefectures, municipalities and other prefecture-level administrative divisions. At the bottom are the counties, autonomous counties and other county-level administrative divisions.
We learn about China’s natural resource endowments, including updates on various projects such as the South-North water diversion project which started in 2002, at a whopping cost of $59 billion involving the construction of three canals running 1,300 km across the eastern, middle and western parts of China linking the major rivers — the Yangtze, Yellow, Huaihe and Haihe. This project is being undertaken to counter China’s chronic water shortage — China has one-fifth of the world’s population but has a meagre 8 per cent of fresh water. Areas south of the Yangtze which account for only 37 per cent of the country’s total territory have 81 per cent of its total water resources, whereas the North, which makes up 63 per cent of the country’s territory, possesses only 19 per cent of water resources, necessitating the project.
The author also discusses China’s challenges such as high dependence on coal leading to environmental problems, dependence on chemical fertilisers, the problem of farmlands on industrial waste and the common practice of using waste water for irrigation etc. China is also facing a demographic challenge of a greying population, estimated to increase to 8.1 per cent in 2010 and more than double in 2050 to 20.9 per cent of the population. Then are the increasing levels of disparities.
While the author is informative, he takes us through a long detour to the crux of the story — China’s economic growth. According to him, China’s high rate of capital accumulation (savings rate) contributed to economic growth. As the author points out, investment in China has been profitable because the surplus labour has prevented the real wage from rising significantly. The large pool of domestic savings has also prevented a rise in the interest rate. This, coupled with access to technology, FDI and growing internal competition, has imparted dynamism to the economy.
The book has no surprises, no twists and turns. It is what it is — a straightforward, simple introduction to China, full of interesting and handy facts, neat details, interspersed with Chinese poetry and wisdom which beginners, undergraduates or teachers of introductory courses on China will find useful. For the real meat on China’s economy — current debates and trends, and new directions — go elsewhere.
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CHINESE ECONOMY
The Driving Forces Behind Modern-Day China
Rongxing Guo
John Wiley &Sons: Singapore, 2010
205 pages
