This handbook, focusing on China, is part of a series aimed at the general reader who wishes to understand the social, political and economic factors that will bear on a region's economic growth as it moves into the 21st century. Each volume in the series begins with two to three chapters that situate the region's economic conditions and initiatives in an historical and political context. There then follows some 20 chapter-length essays, analyzing such factors as population, natural resources, foreign trade, banking and financial structure, as well as the role of multinational corporations,...