The New China

This interactive E-book introduces the reader to contemporary life and governance issues and challenges in China. It is especially directed at students and adult learners who want a basic understanding of the  “new China” of the 21st Century.  Chapter 1 provides  an orientation that places China in a global comparative context, with special attention given to similarities/differences between China and the United States.  Chapter 2 explores China’s efforts to launch a “new” China on three different occasions--1911, 1949, and 1978. 

Chapter 3 examines contemporary life in China, with a particular look at China’s “floating” population, also known as the “transit”population, estimated in 2010 at 220 million internal migrant workers that float in and out of urban regions (inland and coastal) that is not the place of their household registration (hukou system). Chapter 4 introduces the reader to the changing face of government and governance in China, with a close look at Hong Kong and Tibet. 

Chapter 5  examines China’s vibrant economy, although various aspects of the economy are discussed throughout the book. Chapter 6 explores China’s futures (yes, there may be more than one) with an eye toward what may be ahead, for better or worse.