China's Capitalist Transformation: The Rhetoric That Mattered

This book provides a rare account of China's market reform in the own words of the Chinese: politicians, intellectuals, the media, and journalists. The Chinese rhetoric―complex, ironic, argumentative, and abstruse―may hold the key to understanding China's unique style of elite politics, state-citizen relationship, and institutional development. Topics include the establishment and change of the stock market and the recent institutionalization of the private equity industry. Rhetoricizing the Chinese capitalist transformation provides a glimpse into how the Chinese minds work as Chinese people participate in the process of changing the country and themselves. Adopting both an indigenous perspective and an outsider view on China, this book serves as a guide for anyone interested in learning how Chinese reason, persuade, debate, and resist.