The former system provided the incentive for local government to "set up a number of enterprises" and resulted in rapid local industrialization, while the latter system enabled the local governments to move from "operating the enterprises" to "operating the land and cities".

This book places the topic of the state and society in the context of modern development in China over the past century, investigating the dynamic relation and internal tension between the state's power enhancement and society's vitality activation instead of simply regarding the country and society as two separate entities.

Based on these issues and logic mechanisms, the book points out the complexity of government-enterprise relations and the diversity of their transition path, thus reflecting some typical features in the overall reform of China and discussing specific factors related to China's social development experience.