Introduction

Abstract

More than 25 years after China started its economic reform process, few people in the business and academic communities dispute its overwhelming success: long years of high and comparatively stable economic growth have fuelled beliefs that the Chinese economy avoided the pitfalls of other transition economies and managed — remaining problems notwithstanding — to embark on a long and comparatively steady growth path. Due to favourable initial conditions or clever policy choices (or both), Chinese gradualism under the comparatively firm grip of political leaders has proven superior to Big Bang transitions so far.