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Reviews 289 Y. M. Yeung and Sung Yun-wing, editors. Shanghai: Transformation and Modernization under China's Open Policy. Hong Kong: Chinese University ofHongKongPress, 1996. xiv, 583 pp. Hardcover $52.00, isbn 962-201-667-7. Gang Tian. Shanghai's Role in theEconomicDevelopmentofChina. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 1996. xii, 226 pp. Hardcover $65.00, isbn 0-275-95318-1. Since the initiation ofits open-door policy in 1979, China's economic reform has been characterized not only by the various kinds ofinstitutional transformation that have been taking place, but by the shifting ofits key economic areas spatially. While the decade of the 1980s witnessed the emergence offive Special Economic Zones along the southeast coast and die rapid development ofthe Pearl River Delta as part of the decentralization of Hong Kong's processing and manufacturing industries, the focus of regional development in China in the 1990s has gradually shifted to the city ofShanghai, particularly the Pudong New Area. The publication ofthe two volumes under review here is most timely. They appear to be the very first to describe and analyze the process by which this leading metropolis has reemerged and to evaluate its potential role in China's economic development in the foreseeable future. Y. M. Yeung and Sung Yun-wing's Shanghai: Transformation and Modernization under China's Open Policy consists oftwenty lengthy chapters contributed by twenty-seven authors in various social science fields. Except for two authors from North American universities, the overwhelming majority are faculty members at various universities in Hong Kong. Much ofthe source material in this volume was gathered during field trips to Shanghai. Indeed, the authors present the "state of the art" ofChina watching on the eve ofHong Kong's return to China. It is interesting to note that there are four contributors from institutions in mainland China—perhaps a reflection of the fact that academic integration in the social sciences between Hong Kong and China has been well under way prior to July 1997, a process that has been going on for some time but has barely been recognized by Westerners. The book is organized into four parts: the political dimension, economic development , urban and social infrastructure, and topical perspectives. These four parts are evenly divided, and the last part includes topics such as the city's horizontal linkages, environmental quality and pollution control, the historical devel-© 1998 by University opment ofthe city, and the cityas a regional hub. There are thirty-one maps and ofHawai'i Presseighty-six tables. A refreshing feature ofthis book is that Chinese references and authors are listed in both pinyin and Chinese characters, an innovation that should be welcomed by readers ofChinese. There is so much useful information 290 China Review International: Vol. 5, No. 1, Spring 1998 here on Shanghai's transformation in the past four decades that this could be considered a microcosm ofthe development experience in the People's Republic. This is a well-coordinated work with contributions by scholars in practically every discipline in the social sciences. It compares the cultural values and entrepreneurial spirit between Hong Kong and Shanghai, and the unequal treatment of Guangdong and Shanghai by the central government in the 1980s. The establishment of the Pudong New Area in 1990 with a series of open-door policies initiated a new era ofrejuvenation for Shanghai whereby it is able to keep all the local revenues after remitting a fixed sum to the central government. Sending down urban residents from Shanghai to rural areas in the 1950s and 1960s had the unintended effect ofstrengthening nonstate connections with diese other areas, particularly with southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang. The flourishing development of rural industries in the latter areas in the 1980s has had a beneficial effect on the growth ofthat portion ofShanghai's revenue generated from international trade. After more than three decades of political turmoil and institutional constraints , China's leaders appear to have high hopes of restoring Shanghai's position as the "Dragon Head" ofdevelopment in China. Sun Yun-wing, the coeditor of this book, however, has some reservations about the optimism of China's planners , particularly in view of Hong Kong's return to China in 1997. Shanghai's preeminent position...

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