In another book review on China, Kosmas Tsokhas writes about Foreign Direct Investment and the Chinese Economy: A Critical Assessment by Chunlai Chen, of The Australian National University and published by Edward Elgar.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) of US$1.6 trillion by the end of 2014 has been associated with a deep liberalisation of investment and trade in the country. The author wants to look at the impact of FDI on regional economic growth
patterns, rural–urban income inequalities and urbanisation. Naturally enough, “[h]ighly-placed Communist Party officials and senior bureaucrats, executives of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and their capitalist allies, have accumulated riches and properties…”. The author “reaffirms that FDI in the coastal region has retarded economic growth in inland regions, has worsened urban–rural income inequality, and has impeded the urbanisation development of cities in central and western provinces.”
While a “critical assessment,” Tsokhas considers the book fixed in mainstream debates.
JCA 