The Chinese Economy: Transitions and Growth

By Barry Naughton, MIT Press, January 1 2007, 504 pages

"In effortless prose [Naughton] describes the status of every major parameter of the sprawling economy and offers a treasure trove of empirical data drawn from the most current primary sources," comments Yale University professor Deborah Davis. Naughton, who is a professor of political science at the University of California, provides a comprehensive overview of the Chinese economy since 1949, including its industrialisation, reforms and market transition. He examines the one-child policy, rural economic issues, international trade and foreign investment in China. According to Louis Putterman, a professor of Economics at Brown University, "Barry Naughton is one of the top experts on China's economy, and there's no one who could have done a better job in writing a book like this." To offer a global perspective on China's economy, Naughton discusses its development relative to other transitional economies, and also to the US and Japan.

China's New Culture of Cool: Understanding the World's Fastest-Growing Market

By LiAnne Yu, Cynthia Chan and Christopher Ireland, New Rider's Press, August 18 2006, 152 pages

This is a comprehensible and easy read examining China's youth culture and how it is driving the country's huge consumer growth. Ben Tsiang, co-founder and executive vice president of Sina, describes it as suitable for "those who seek out sensible orientation and extensive updates on China's consumers insights". "A necessary read," says Richard Saul Wurman, creator of TED and eg Conferences, which shows "an understanding of the effects the enormous change has brought to China throughout the last decade". According to Jon Jerde, founder and chairman of FAIA, it "paints a vivid picture of how the young and entrepreneurial in China are driving change in its cities. Reading it is the next best thing to going there and experiencing it yourself." The authors, who are all consultants Cheskin, a market research firm in the US, draw on topics from food to fashion to modern technology, examining how young Chinese people are fusing traditional values with the influences of Western consumer culture. Insightful reading for foreign organisations looking for a deeper understanding of their future Chinese customers.