by Albert Nyberg and Scott Rozelle. Washington: The World Bank, 1999. 132 pp. $30 softcover.

Despite the fact that China's early reforms lifted a huge portion of humanity out of extreme poverty in a short period, China must still implement a variety of infinitely more difficult reforms if it is to have any hope of narrowing the gaping--and widening--rural-urban divide. In Accelerating China's Rural Transformation, Albert Nyberg of the World Bank's East Asia and Pacific Region, Rural Development and Natural Resources Sector Unit, and Scott Rozelle, a World Bank consultant, identify obstacles to rural progress in China and suggest long-, medium-, and short-term policies and actions to overcome them.

The book is divided into three parts. Part I, "The Rural Sector Chal lenge," lays out the issues affecting this sector, such as credit and finance, employment opportunities, and natural resources. Part II, "An Enabling Environment for Rural Development," delves into these issues more deeply, addressing income and rural-urban linkages; public finance; credit and finance; the development of markets; and how international trade and foreign capital flows affect the rural sector. Part III, "Managing Rural Development," deals with cultivated land, water resources, technical change and technology transfer, industry, poverty reduction, natural resource management, and the environment.

In most of these areas, the authors conclude that the state must liberalize its policies--remove barriers to migration, deregulate interest rates, and enact World Trade Organization (WTO) accession policies, for instance. At the same time, however, the authors stress that the government must be prepared to cushion the negative effects of liberalization in poor areas, by, for example, better targeting poverty-alleviation efforts and encouraging the development of township and village enterprises (TVEs) in areas where they have comparative advantage. Standardized quarantine and phytosanitary inspections, certificates, and shipping documents--applied equally across all provinces--as well as a more rational tax system and fewer arbitrary fees at the local level are just a few suggest ions that the authors believe could benefit rural dwellers and the agricultural sector.

But all of these suggestions are closely tied to banking-sector and state-owned-enterprise (SOE) reform. Unless policy lending is significantly reduced, credit for agriculture and TVEs will remain scarce, the authors argue. Without successful SOE reform and a private sector strong enough to absorb not only laid-off SOE workers but surplus agricultural laborers, excess labor will be stuck on the farm, or perhaps worse, swell the growing ranks of increasingly discontented migrant workers--raising the threatening specter of unrest.

An interesting thread running through Nyberg and Rozelle's conclusions is the need for accountability in local government. In many areas, local government is currently more of a burden than a help to rural dwellers because of its tendency to impose arbitrary and illegal taxes, fees, and fines. The authors propose consolidating some powers at the county level or higher, not only to save resources, but to avoid egregious abuses of power at lower levels.

Reinforcing the recommendations at the end of each chapter in parts II and III, the policy and action matrix at the end of the book lists specific problems facing the rural sector and actions the government could take to address them. Well organiz ed and written in plain English, Accelerating China's Rural Transformation gives the reader insight into the magnitude of problems facing China's rural sector, where nearly three-quarters of the country's population still lives. This alone makes the book a thought-provoking guide to problems that foreign business sometimes overlooks--but that affect it nonetheless.

--Virginia A. Hulme

Virginia A. Hulme is an assistant editor of The CBR.

by Winston K. Zee. Hong Kong: Asia Information Associates Ltd., 1999. 306 pp. $100 softcover.

In his book, China Forex Handbook, Winston K. Zee, a Hong Kong-based partner with Baker & McKenzie, provides a solid overview and analysis for businesspeople of China's foreign-exchange system. The book is especially helpful for companies still facing foreign-exchange problems resulting from China's 1998 efforts to tighten loopholes. The first third of the book explains China's foreign-exchange procedures. The rest of the book is an excellent compilation of China's major laws and regulations governing foreign-exchange transactions in both English and Chinese.

The book opens with a snapshot of China's foreign-exchange system and legislative framework as it has developed since 1994. Zee defines terms and explains various aspects of the system, including its currency system. One chapter details how China controls the supply and demand of foreign exchange, including a particularly clear and concise overview of the types of transactions and loopholes in the system. Zee illustrates how these transactions work on both the capital and current accounts and offers separate discussions of how the process works for foreign-invested enterprises, representative offices, and individuals. The book also addresses the separate requirements for imports and exports, as well as for bonded zones, royalties and assignment fees, and loans.

Zee intersperses discussion of various procedures and regulations with analysis of what motivated China to adopt particular measures. The concluding chapter on penalties offers fresh and interesting insights by explaining how the key changes in 1998 were not so much new regulations as a stricter enforcement of laws already in place. One key policy change in 1998 made banks liable for the foreign exchange they issued, while a series of Supreme Court decisions sent a conservative lending chill throughout the b anking community.

--Karen M. Sutter

Karen M. Sutter is the director of Business Advisory Services at The US-China Business Council in Washington, DC.

edited by George J. Liu. Washington, DC: PacifiCom, Inc., 1999. 288 pp. $75 softcover.

Directory of Chinese Government and Organizations is a handy, one-volume reference of contact information for Chinese government departments and organizations. The first part of the directory, on the central government, is divided into sections about the administration, the National People's Congress, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The second part of the book focuses on local governments, and contains information on municipalities, provinces, autonomous regions, and special administrative regions. In the final section, the book turns to key national corporations and organizations and Chinese missions abroad.

S tarting at the top of the PRC's government hierarchy, the book gives basic biographical information about China's president, vice president, and members of the State Council. Contact information in both English and Chinese for ministries and bureaus, as well as their departments, under the State Council follows. Most of the ministry entries include a photo and brief bio of the minister. The CCP section lists all members of the 15th Central Committee.

The local-government section provides basic facts about each area, and lists each local government department, its phone number, and, occasionally, fax number. The section on key national corporations and organizations gives contact information and the names of the top people in each organization.

While the last two sections of the directory could benefit from the inclusion of the names and addresses of department heads, fax numbers, and--as more and more Chinese organizations get online--website and e-mail addresses, Directory of Chinese Government and Organizations is clearly laid out and easy to use. Each section is in alphabetical order according to the English names, with Chinese printed directly underneath. For those unfamiliar with the Chinese language, the first appendix offers pronunciation tips and some key telephone phrases. The second appendix features a list of Chinese holidays and a brief explanation of the significance of each one.

--Virginia A. Hulme

Virginia Hulme is an assistant editor of The CBR.

by John Shijian Mo. Hong Kong: Sweet & Maxwell Asia, 1999. 280 pp. $150 softcover.

Nearly 90 percent of China's trade is carried out by sea, making shipping an important issue for US business in China. But until now there has been relatively little written on this topic in English. John Mo's book, Shipping Law in China, offers Western readers an important resource. Based on a shorter Chinese version published in 1998, Shipping Law in China provides a detailed and technical analysis of the ins and outs of the 1993 Maritime Law of the People's Republic of China.

The book covers the history of shipping in China, China's participation in international maritime law, vessels and property rights, rights and obligations of charter parties, insurance liability, and maritime disputes. Especially helpful is Mo's reliance on emerging case law in China t o offer interpretations of various aspects of the law. He also identifies areas in which PRC interpretation and application of the law remain contradictory or vague.

The publication of this book is particularly timely--the US-China bilateral maritime agreement lapsed in late 1998, and the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) is currently investigating unfavorable shipping conditions in US-China trade resulting from Chinese shipping rules and practices. Among the FMC's concerns are licensing of vessel calls at China's ports and port-access restrictions, including those imposed on foreign vessels seeking to move cargoes between ports in China and Taiwan. PRC authorities have also denied US carriers' requests to increase the limited number of branch offices they are presently permitted to operate. This prevents US carriers from performing branch-office functions at inland locations or ports where they transship cargoes. Branch offices perform a wide range of functions, including booking cargo space, accepting goods, issuing bills of lading, soliciting business, negotiating freight changes, and providing customer service. US firms must utilize the services of subsidiaries of Chinese shipping companies that compete with US carriers.

While the book does not address these issues directly, it provides companies and US government negotiators with the information they need to work with China to gain greater market access.

--Karen M. Sutter

Karen M. Sutter is the director of Business Advisory Services at The US-Ch ina Business Council in Washington, DC.

by James Mann. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1999. 433 pp. $30 hardcover.

Jim Mann, diplomatic correspondent and foreign affairs columnist for the Los Angeles Times, has produced an entertaining review of US-China relations from the Kissinger breakthrough in 1971 through the Clinton trip to Beijing in the summer of 1998. American veterans of the entire 25-year trek will find much to remember. Less-decrepit readers may well enjoy the tales of political intrigue, silliness in high places, and self-delusion that color the pages of this highly readable book.

To the extent that Mann presents a theme, it is this: American approaches to the relationship with China have been characterized by a lamentable secrecy, which has perpetuated a pattern of bilateral relations that could not have withstood public exposure in the United States. Furthermore, Americans have generally failed to deal with China according to the wisdom of the old Chinese maxim, "Know you rself, know the adversary/in a hundred battles, a hundred victories." Instead, American policymakers and politicians pursued pipe dreams, often deceiving themselves and others, while succumbing to the clever manipulations of the sophisticated Chinese, for whom the old game of inducing one's adversary to defeat himself with little or no effort of one's own was a hallowed and perfected tradition. Thus, American policy toward China has been characterized by reversals of course, suggestive of a fundamental lack of self-knowledge. Along the way, the author heavily implies, American values have taken a troubling beating.

Mann's picture of US behavior toward China is not a pretty one. His glancing portrayals of China itself are no more elevating. Like so many contributions to the endless American debate about China, the China of About Face seems to serve as a rather pallid stage set for the colorful enactment of a US domestic drama of villains, knaves, and stout fellows. About Face leaves very few American figures smelling good. And even those that come out smelling good somehow don't smell convincingly good: Mann likes some of his characters more than others, but readers may not share his assessments of the members of the cast.

At bottom, this is a brave journalistic attempt at the writing of history. The book does not pretend to theoretica l or comparative or even analytical depth; it is, instead, a lively narrative around the twin themes of secrecy and folly. Its sources (very responsibly cited) are Freedom of Information Act government documents, interviews, memoirs of participants, and contemporary news reports. With such sources, it is understandable that the role of individuals and the power of their biases and temperaments bulk large. Armed with this colorful material, and with a nimble pen able to paint complex human situations with one or two rapid strokes, the author presents US-China relations largely as a modern day March of (American) Folly.

Along the road, however, About Face at times seems abundantly willing to attribute to its subjects hidden motives and mental states that in fact can only be guessed at; to assert unprovable causal relationships and infer revealing patterns among events without proving their existence; and to imply the author's indignation over his subjects' actions without simply coming out and detailing the charges.

In the end, this is a provocative and jaunty journey through a cluttered and sometimes still-smoldering landscape, which contemporary American businesspeople continue to tread. But in its dogged determination to portray patterns of deceit and self-deception, and to uncover the full dimensions of American moral obtuseness on China, the ingeniously titled About Face sometimes labors hard in the no-man's land between journalism and history.

--Robert A. Kapp

Robert A. Kapp is the president of The US-China Business Council.

by Simon Cartledge. Hong Kong: The Economist Intelligence Unit Ltd., 1999. 106 pp. $675, softcover.

China's New Order: The Impact of the Latest Government Reforms confidently leads the reader through the maze of China's government restructuring over the last year. Simon Cartledge, former editor-in-chief for EIU Asia, draws on his lengthy experience working with China to explain the latest round of government restructuring.

The slim volume starts by explaining the need for reform, describing how the late Deng Xiaoping, and President Jiang Zemin, and Premier Zhu Rongji have approached reform, and the alliances that have allowed them to maintain stability while undertaking such momentous changes. Cartledge details the goals of this latest reform, particularly the sepa ration of the state and the economy, and looks into the forces behind these goals. The author also describes how the Chinese government works and the roles of different institutions and players, including the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army.

Chapter 4 explains the structure and leadership of the major ministries and commissions one by one. The State Planning Commission (SPC)'s transformation into the State Development Planning Commission (SDPC) is one excellent example. Cartledge argues that the SPC was an increasingly marginal player before restructuring. Beijing's goal of separating the state from the economy seemed to doom the new SDPC from the start. However, because the SDPC became less hampered by details after the government reduced its responsibilities, it became a more powerful policymaker after reforms.

One of the most valuable features of the report is the description of any given leader's links with other important players. The reader gains a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes patronage, machinations, rivalries, and alliances within the Chinese government. This in turn explains why the reforms are progressing as they are, and in which direction a particular ministry or commission may be headed. In the case of the SDPC, the author mentions the connections of Minister Zeng Peiyan to Jiang's Shanghai-based clique, as well as Zeng's policy relations with both Jiang and Zhu.

The book concludes with a chapter that advises foreign firms on guanxi--the glue of most deals in China--and how to find help through various types of organizations. The guanxi section includes case studies and examples drawn from major foreign companies' experiences in China. The appendix contains contact information for selected ministries, commissions, bureaus, embassies, business organizations, and consulting firms.

China's New Order is well-organized and clearly written. It could, however, benefit from a comprehensive chart of the new government, as it is difficult to grasp the entire government organization. Brief biographies of the leaders of the various ministries and departments add to the reader's understanding of the Chinese government and how it works.

--Lissa Michalak

Lissa Michalak is the publications assistant of The CBR.

edited by Orville Schell and David Shambaugh. New York: Vintage Books, 1999, 535 pp. $16 softcover.

The China Reader: The Reform Era presents in one handy volume some of the most important documents, articles, interviews, and statements in China's recent history. In putting together this anthology, Orville Schell--dean of graduate studies in journalism at the University of California, Berkeley--and David Shambaugh--political science and international affairs professor at George Washington University and former editor of The China Quarterly--have carefully selected documents to illustrate the great paradox of China's reform era: "development on the one hand and the Communist Party's attempts to maintain its hegemonic grip on political power on the other."

The China Reader begins with a section on the politics of reform, divided into chapters on inner-party and outer-party politics. This section features what is arguably the most impor tant document of the entire era: the Communique of the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party. The Third Plenum marked the beginning of Deng Xiaoping's dominance, set the stage for economic and political reforms, and authorized diplomatic relations with the United States. The volume also includes Deng's famous interview with the Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci, in which he confided that, particularly during the Cultural Revolution, Mao "made mistakes--and they were not minor ones--which brought many misfortunes upon our Party, our state, and our people."

The chapter on outer-party politics concentrates almost exclusively on student activities and the democracy movement. It includes Wei Jingsheng's Democracy: The Fifth Modernization and a number of essays on the 1989 Tiananmen massacre. Yan Jianli, at the time a University of California doctoral student who witnessed the events at Tiananmen Square on the night of June 3-4, 1989, offers a chilling first-person account of the tragic event.

The second section on education, media, and culture presents a number of pieces from both Chinese and foreign observers on how these key institutions are changing as part of and in response to the broader reforms. The issues covered include the role of the press in the 1980s, the place of religion in communist society, a nd the "battle for cyberspace."

Drawing together material on the social consequences of reform, another section presents pieces on inequality, the floating population, the environment, and crime. Sections on the economy, security, and foreign relations feature contributions by Barry Naughton, Bill Clinton, the Dalai Lama, and Jiang Zemin.

Despite the wide range of selections and great number of topics covered, The China Reader is more than a patchwork of documents. Its elements are bound together by the editors' introductions and commentaries, which are brief and for the most part useful. They are not long enough, however, to make this volume an effective introduction for those entirely unfamiliar with recent Chinese history.

For those who have at least a basic knowledge of the PRC's reform period, The China Reader is a wonderful resource, offering the opportunity to explore various interpretations of events and dig into primary resources. It also provides contemporary commentary, enabling the reader to gain a deeper understanding of the enormous and perplexing changes set in motion by Deng's reforms.

--Dominik Treeck

Dominik Treeck is a Business Advisory Services intern at The US-China Business Council in Washington, DC.