Acknowledgements --
Introduction --
China's reforms : overview and a view from below --
Development strategy and the countryside --
The hela, wuxi : transformation of the land of rice and fish --
State and party : agencies of reforms --
Local state and the agency trap --
The party and its governing capacity --
Effects on people --
Tves as catalysts in China's success story : why were they abandoned? --
Prosperity and problems in the countryside --
Clearing clouds in half the sky : women in the success trap --
Social sector achievements and crisis : health, family planning and education --
Learning from China's development : lessons for global transformation --
Glossary --
Index --
About the author.

An in-depth insight into the economic and social transformation that China has undergone from 1979 to the present.