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China Investment Manual draws upon the expertise of leading authorities on PRC investment and business law to provide a comprehensive overview of the legal issues underpinning the PRC's current investment environment. The manual covers topics ranging from accounting to zones, including contracts, how to select investment vehicles, intellectual property, employment and management practices, and customs. These volumes also provide a solid introduction to PRC government agencies involved in investment policy- and decision-making at both the national and local levels.

China Investment Manual is an important resource for companies with operations in China, as well as for firms looking to invest there for the first time. Each section opens with a brief overview referencing pertinent PRC laws, followed by information, legal analysis, and interpretation. The section on holding companies, for example, details preconditions for application and application procedures, registered-capital and capital-contribution requirements, the scope of business permitted under the holding company structure, and foreign-exchange and tax issues.

One of the strengths of the manual is its ability to present in an integrated fashion important issues that may confront an investor in China. Throughout each section, key laws that may have an indirect impact on the main issue covered appear in bold type and refer the reader to other sections of the manual for additional analysis. This approach provides the reader with a broader understanding of the full range of issues that must be considered when evaluating the PRC's investment regime. China Investment Manual is a valuable reference guide for foreign investors trying to navigate the maze of Chinese investment laws.

--Jeremie Waterman

Jeremie Waterman is Business Advisory Services associate at The US-China Business Council in Washington, DC.

The Economics of Energy Policy in China: Implications for Global Climate Change
by Zhang Zhongxiang. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd., 1998. 279 pp. $85 hardcover.

In The Economics of Energy Policy in China: Implications for Global Climate Change, Zhang Zhongxiang, a research fellow at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and a professor at the Center for Environment and Development at Beijing's Academy of Social Sciences, searches for an economically feasible way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in China. Meticulous in his research, Zhang analyzes the Chinese energy system and the applicability of several international models to China. He also develops his own model to better describe the effects of carbon dioxide abatement on the Chinese economy.

As a result of his research, Zhang concludes that the joint implementation (JI) method--by which more-developed countries invest in carbon abatement technologies in less-developed countries--would be the best method for reducing global carbon emissions. Because the same amount of money spent in a less-developed economy produces a greater effect than in a more-developed economy, the JI plan leads to greater efficiency in the world's energy systems.

Zhang also explores alternative fuels, including natural gas, nuclear power, and hydropower, as well as wind, solar, and tidal energy. He determines that the cost of building the requisite hardware and transporting the electricity makes many of these alternative energy sources inefficient. Because of their greater carbon abatement benefits, hydro- and nuclear power are more plausible alternative energy sources.

For the layperson, reading Zhang's study is like hunting for truffles in a forest: you know they are out there, and while plunging through the underbrush to get to them isn't easy, it is worth the effort. While the technical writing can be thorny, the study is so well done that one still comes away from the hunt with a good understanding of the economically feasible methods of carbon abatement in China. The major flaw in the study is the incompleteness of Zhang's model. He does, however, suggest incorporating a more realistic institutional structure in a future study. Given the changing nature of the PRC economy, future studies with a more complete version of Zhang's model will no doubt prove useful for analyzing China's environment.

--Lissa Michalak

Lissa Michalak is the publications assistant at The CBR.

Pacific Economic Outlook, 1999-2000
by Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, 1999. Washington, DC: United States National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation. 80 pp. $32 softcover.

The eleventh Pacific Economic Outlook, 1999-2000 (PEO) provides an economic forecast for the Pacific Rim region, drawing on the expertise of leading economists from 19 of the 24 member economies of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council. (Brunei Darussalam, Pacific island nations, Russia, and French Pacific territories are not included this year.)

The concise volume begins with a summary of the regional economy in 1998, noting that Australia, Canada, and the United States performed exceptionally well, while Colombia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Japan performed poorly largely because of structural problems. Lessons of the Asian crisis are also summarized. The generally optimistic outlook for 1999-2000 finds Pacific countries' monetary and fiscal policy, international trade, and balance of payments encouraging. P EO does, however, warn that serious trouble could arise in the region should China, Japan, or the United States--the three engines of regional economic growth--experience severe recession. A renminbi devaluation, potential Y2K problems, and elections in several countries could also cause difficulties.

The main body of the book devotes a chapter to each of the 19 economies. These chapters summarize economic performance in 1998, discuss problems and trends specific to that economy, and finish with a forecast. In the case of China, PEO highlights declining household consumption, foreign investment, trade, deflation, unemployment, and the government's attempts to stimulate investment and consumption. PEO predicts that GDP, exports, imports, investment, and prices will rise slightly over the next two years. Surprisingly, it indicates that China's GDP may rise to 8 percent in 2000, a rosier forecast than other analyses.

Perhaps most useful to readers are the six tables at the end of the book, containing major indicators for each economy.

--Virginia A. Hulme

Virginia A. Hulme is assistant editor of The CBR.

China Markets Yearbook 1999
edited by Shaomin Li and David S. Tse. Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong Press, 1999. 1,148 pp. $325 hardcover.

In compiling China Markets Yearbook 1999, Shaomin Li and David S. Tse have put a wealth of information at our fingertips. This volume, the sequel to China Markets Yearbook 1997, reports on 563 markets in China from coal mining to water supply. The bilingual book is based on the results of the 1997 PRC State Statistical Bureau survey of enterprises.

Laid out in a user-friendly table format, each industry report begins with a market snapshot detailing the industry's percentage of China's total industrial sector, revenue growth rate, the percentage of profitable firms in the industry, and the top province for that industry in terms of revenue. The table lists general industry statistics, including total number of firms, employees, revenue, profit, debts, and assets. Such information is also available by type of company ownership as well as by size, region, and province. In addition, the table features 4 years of selected industry indicators. Users will also find information on the top 10 firms, wholesalers, and cities in the industry according to production.

Finally, China Markets Yearbook 1999 includes a brief glossary of terms used in the volume and provides general information on each province, such as population, GDP growth rate, and per capita income.

--Darlene M. Liao

Darlene M. Liao is assistant editor of The CBR.

The Era of Jiang Zemin
by Willy Wo-Lap Lam. Singapore: Simon & Schuster, Asia Pte Ltd., 1999. 452 pp. HK$165 softcover.

Willy Wo-Lap Lam is a veteran observer of the Chinese political scene. In his new book, The Era of Jiang Zemin, Lam paints an incredibly detailed picture of the personal and policy challenges facing China's top leadership. As Lam weaves his story, President Jiang Zemin emerges less as the helmsman leading China boldly into the 21st century than as an aging leader muddling through the day-to-day operations of the country while focusing on his own public image. By the end of the book, readers may sense that the Chinese president is particularly weak when called on to think creatively about solutions to China's looming social and economic problems.

This book's most significant contribution is its analysis of how, since the mid-1990s, Jiang and Premier Zhu Rongji have been actively re-centralizing China's governmental authority and strengthening state links to the Communist Party, links that were deliberately weakened under Deng's leadership in the 1980s. The author depicts Jiang and Zhu not as the liberal, market-driven reformers portrayed in the Western press, but as neo-conservatives who envision a strong central-government hand in China's economy at both the national and local levels. Lam's analysis of how Jiang has used the issue of corruption, and the power of a revived Public Security Bureau, to outflank his challengers is fresh and insightful.

At times, Lam's analysis of Jiang and Jiang's era overlap, so that it becomes difficult to sepa rate the leader's policy initiatives from developments or policies set in motion long ago. Lam's discussion of the increased political role of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is also interesting but lacks enough supporting information to be persuasive. The emphasis on factionalism in the PLA is also excessive in places.

The fast-paced text is packed with detail and can leave readers less familiar with the names and positions of Chinese personalities and agencies fumbling for a government chart of who's who. But hang in there, for the text is rich. As always, Lam's insights on China's senior leadership are instructive and leave us clamoring for more.

--Karen M. Sutter

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

China in the New Millennium: Market Reforms and Social Development
edited by James A. Dorn. Washington, DC: CATO Institute, 1998. 416 pp. $24.95 hardcover, $15.95 softcover.

China in the New Millennium probes the question of how China can resolve the paradox of promoting a market economy while maintaining a dominant role for the state in economic planning. The collection of essays also discusses the expansion of personal freedoms in China that resulted from the country's market opening. The authors maintain that China's prosperity in the next century will depend on the willingness and ability of China's leaders to promote the continued interaction of market economy and personal autonomy.

This book consists of five parts with essays by experts on China's economy, including Justin Yifu Lin, Minxin Pei, Nicholas Lardy, and Jose Pinera. In Part I, authors examine the current tension in China's economy caused by state-owned-enterprise reforms and lingering banking problems.

Part II studies Hong Kong as a potential model for a free economy on the mainland. The success of Hong Kong's non-interventionist economy bears significant implications for China's future. If China can copy the Hong Kong government's "hands-off" approach to business and the economy, it could do even better than Hong Kong, given its larger resources.

Part III addresses the most serious issues facing foreign businesspeople and enterprises in China: China's attempt to join the World Trade Organization; its ability to open up specific sectors such as telecommunications and foreign exchange; and its evolving relations with the United States as it grows in economic stature.

Part IV analyzes the development of China's civil society at a time when the market economy poses enormous challenges to the historical tradition of a political economy. The book suggests that the government holds the key to this dilemma.

Part V explores the constitutional, fiscal, and regulatory changes that China must make to become a free economy. These include a streamlined tax system and constitutional limits on government's right to tax and spend.

China in the New Millen nium deserves the attention of anyone interested in the direction of China's economy. While the book does not provide all the answers to the problems plaguing China's economy, it does provide a framework for gauging China's market potential in the next century.

--Ada Wong

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

Wenlin 2.0
Oakland, CA: Wenlin Institute, Inc., 1998. $150 CD-ROM.

Wenlin 2.0, a software for learning Chinese, is a great resource for any student of Mandarin Chinese--it is fast, has multiple functions, and is easy to use. It can serve as a basic Chinese word processor and features a searchable dictionary. The program provides correct pronunciation of and stroke order for writing a character, in addition to recognizing handwritten characters. Users can also search the database for both definitions and examples of character usage.

A Windows-based software, Wenlin allows users to move among different tools. Characters can be entered into the computer by typing the pinyin, followed by 1, 2, 3, or 4 for the proper tone. Hitting the "convert," or "/," button brings up a list of all characters with this pronunciation. If a tone is not assigned, the software will provide a larger list of all the characters with that pinyin spelling.

Wenlin's help section facilitates the use of more advanced functions such as designing flash cards, editing the dictionary, and searching the complete database. Although it would suffice as a Chinese word processor for beginning to intermediate students, Wenlin does not claim to be a substitute for standalone Chinese word processors. It is, however, compatible with most other Chinese word-processing programs, so a Wenlin document may be cut and pasted into other applications or vice versa.

Wenlin is also useful for China businesspeople who may need a quick, in-depth reference guide. And Wenlin allows those who have an intermediate understanding of Chinese--or are good speakers but illiterate--to put their spoken words on paper. The speed and ease of character lookup is truly Wenlin's greatest strength. The program should increase the reading and writing ability of any student of Chinese.

--Gregory S. Heslin

Gregory S. Heslin is the business manager of The CBR.