This book provides a comprehensive examination of value changes of Chinese citizens, especially the younger generation, and how the Chinese authorities take efforts to adapt to such changes and refine its social control mechanisms. The book discusses three related themes through a series of topics. The first theme examines the changes in political attitudes and values among Chinese youths, comparing them to the older generations in the mainland and their contemporaries in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The second theme focuses on the recent development of social unrests, new pursuits that emerged in the Chinese society, and new means adopted by the Chinese protestors. The third theme touches on the responses of the party-state under the Xi Jinping administration, and how it has sophisticatized the machine of social control. With these three themes, this book also adds on to the understanding of regime stability of the Communist system in China, and how this system handles a variety of challenges brought about by dramatic social changes.

Using in-depth case studies of a wide-range of political, social and economic reforms in contemporary China this volume sheds light on the significance and consequences of institutional change for stability of the political system in China. The contributors examine how reforms shape and change Communist rule and Chinese society, and to what extent they may engender new legitimacy for the CCP regime and argue that authoritarian regimes like the PRC can successfully generate stability in the same way as democracies. Topics addressed include: ideological reform, rural tax- for-fees reforms, elections in villages and urban neighbourhood communities, property rights in rural industries, endogenous political constraints of transition, internalising capital markets, the media market in transition, the current social security system, the labour market environmental policy reforms to anti-poverty policies and NGOs. Exploring the possibility of legitimate one-party rule in China, this book is a stimulating and informative read for students and scholars interested in political science and Chinese politics

This book attempts to provide an overview of social and political changes in Chinese society since the global financial crisis. Rapid economic development has restructured the setup of society and empowered or weakened certain social players. The chapters in this book provide an updated account of a wide range of social changes, including the rise of the middle class and private entrepreneurs, the declining social status of the working class, as well as the resurgence of non-governmental organisations and the growing political mobilisation on the internet. The authors also examine the implications of those changes for state-society relations, governance, democratic prospects, and potentially for the stability of the current political regime.

This book aims to contribute to the debate on 'authoritarian resilience' with empirical studies from a range of perspectives, including regime support, nationalism, environmental movement, ethnic conflicts and internet management. The chapters in this book centre around two separate but intertwined themes and are collated to discuss on the stability of China in Xi Jinping's era. The first theme examines changes in political attitudes and values among Chinese citizens, and the second focuses on the responses of the party-state and how it has made sophisticated the machine of social control.

With a large and growing economy and a leadership dedicated both to domestic reform and the further integration into international society and the world economy, China is facing and posing important challenges at the local, national, regional and wider international level. This book analyses the developmental trajectories of China up to and into the new millennium. Focusing on the substance and underlying forces of change, it considers issues and developments in monetary policy, foreign exchange policy, the trade regime, state-owned enterprise reform, regional economic development as well as social changes, particularly those related to social welfare reform and the Internet. The book also covers economic and political developments in 'Greater China', particularly the prospects of reunification after Taiwan's presidential elections, and analyses the core issues and challenges in China's contemporary relations with the USA, Japan, South-East Asia and Europe.

Critical Issues in Contemporary China: Unity, Stability and Development comprehensively examines key problems crucial to understanding modern-day China. Organized around three interrelated themes of unity, stability and development, each chapter explores distinct issues and debate their significance for China domestically and for Beijing’s engagement with the wider world. While presenting contending explanatory approaches, contributors advance arguments to further critical discussion on selected topics. Main issues analysed include: political change military transformation legal reforms economic development energy security environmental degradation food security and safety demographic trends migration and urbanization labour unrest health and education social inequalities ethnic conflicts Hong Kong’s integration cross-Strait relations. Given its thorough and up-to-date assessment of major political, social and economic challenges facing China, this fully revised and substantially expanded new edition is an essential read for any student of Chinese Studies.

As China enters its proclaimed ‘New Era’ under President Xi Jinping, this book examines changes and continuity in social relations and political development, investigating new developments against the backdrop of continuations of long-term trends and previous policies. What has remained outside many scholarly discussions is a larger backdrop of continuity, into which the policies of Xi Jinping’s administration are inserted to further shape social, economic and political trajectories in contemporary China. Presented as a volume of methodologically diverse studies exploring some of the key aspects of social and political development in contemporary China, its authors examine the structural factors that continue to exert influence on China’s trajectory – in the ‘New Era’, as before – at the deeper and subtler levels. This is the first publication of its kind to focus on how continuity and change interplay under Xi; it enables readers to appreciate both genuine novelties and the enduring, long-term trends, as well as to estimate future trends in the proclaimed ‘New Era’ and beyond. Social Relations and Political Development in China will be of significant interest to students and scholars of Chinese studies, political science and sociology.