Wu Jinglian

Almost every page of this book is insightful on Chinese economics or politics or usually both together.

Tyler Cowen

Marginal Revolution

Decades from now, future generations will look back at the turn of the twenty-first century and ask how China moved away from the socialist planned economy system and engineered one of the most spectacular stories of economic growth in human history. There will be no shortage of books devoted to analyzing these processes. In relative—if not total—shortage will be stories told by the actors who played major roles in this historical transformation. This rare and valuable volume, based on writings and stories of one of China's most influential economists and public intellectuals, Wu Jinglian, will serve that important function. It provides materials from a unique angle for contemporary readers to appreciate and understand the processes of China's reforms.

Wang Feng, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Non-resident Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution

Wu Jinglian has long been a critical figure in the Chinese reform process, at once an intellectual mastermind behind several key policies and a trenchant observer of the process as a whole. To the best of my knowledge, this book represents the first comprehensive English—language presentation of Professor Wu's writings. Moreover those writings are coupled with insightful commentary by Barry Naughton, one of the world's foremost experts on the Chinese economy. This volume offers a crucial window onto the intellectual foundations of China's ongoing economic transformation.

Edward Steinfeld, Professor of Political Economy, MIT, and co-director of the China Energy Group in the MIT Industrial Performance Center

Naughton's focus on Wu Jinglian, whom he rightly identifies as a key contributor to the lengthy gestation of China's reform and marketization, is both attractive and timely. Naughton gives the reader a sense of the entire milieu in which debate and, eventually, Chinese reform occurred, as well as highlighting the issues and some of the personalities involved.

Thomas G. Rawski, Professor of Economics and History, University of Pittsburgh