Forging Reform in China: The Fate of State-Owned Industry (Cambridge Modern China Series)

The greatest economic challenge facing China in the post-Deng era is the reform of unprofitable, state-owned enterprises that have never truly been forced to face the pressure of a bottom line or the threat of bankruptcy. Forging Reform in China explains how and why well-intentioned, market-oriented reform measures have not been sweepingly successful to date, and what it would take to achieve meaningful reform. This book makes a compelling argument that private ownership cannot work in China's current system until governance over complex economic factors has been established, that is, until credit is tightened and market selection processes made to work.