books

On a freezing January afternoon in 1992, Deng Xiaoping, China’s former paramount leader and now a revered elder statesman, set off on a month-long trip around China’s south in defence of the reforms he had set in motion to open up China’s economy and transform the country into the political and economic powerhouse we know today. In The Southern Tour: Deng Xiaoping and the Fight for China’s Future (Bloomsbury Asian …

Every August, book writers and readers gather in Edinburgh for several weekends of author talks, workshops, panel discussions and other events. It’s a busy time of year – the start of Edinburgh International Book Festival coincides with the Edinburgh Fringe and the end with the Film and TV Festival. It makes it a great time to head to the Scottish capital, and for those with a particular focus on China/Asia, …

Made in China: When US-China Interests Converged to Transform Global Trade (Harvard University Press), the new book by Assistant Professor of International History at LSE Elizabeth O’Brien Ingleson, may focus on the US experience of trading with China, but there is much for the UK to learn too. How did the US, EU and Britain – along with many other countries – help make China the world’s foremost trading power? …

Anne Stevenson-Yang is originally from Washington DC. She moved to Beijing in 1993 to work for the US-China Business Council. In the next quarter century, she became one of the best-known foreigners in China, starting businesses in publishing, software and online media. Now back in the US, she runs J Capital Research USA and found time to publish not one, but two books – Wild Ride: A Short History of …

Huang Xuelei, a senior lecturer of China Studies at Edinburgh University, recently published the book Scents of China: A Modern History of Smell (Cambridge University Press), which tells the history of China through smell and scent. Here, she talks to CBBC’s Antoaneta Becker about how Mao used smell to his advantage and the rise of the perfume market among China’s Gen Z consumers. How did you end up writing a …

Since the late 1970s, China has undergone perhaps the most sweeping process of urbanisation ever witnessed. It’s a story largely understood as one of growth, rapid development and economic dynamism. But it could also be seen as a tale of sprawl, bad planning and alienation. Now all the talk is of ‘quality’ in urban planning and city studies. Richard Hu, a professor at the Canberra Business School, looks at the …

Jeffrey C. Kinkley is professor emeritus of Chinese History at St. John’s University, New York, and a John Simon Guggenheim Fellow. He is also a biographer (The Odyssey of Shen Congwen) and a translator of Chinese fiction. Kinkley has published several academic books, including Chinese Justice, the Fiction: Law and Literature in Modern China; Corruption and Realism in Late Socialist China: The Return of the Political Novel; and Visions of …

Every month at FOCUS, we look at a different new book on China and talk to the author. From history to economics, business case studies to geo-politics – the successful business person in China needs to grasp all these elements. So this year, we’ve examined books ranging in topic from Xiconomics to local entrepreneurship, Big Tech to China’s changing cities – and even some Christmas food ideas from Fuchsia Dunlop. …

If you’re remotely interested in China, especially Chinese cuisine, it’s been hard to avoid Fuchsia Dunlop’s new book, Invitation to a Banquet (Penguin) recently. It’s also hard to imagine that many CBBC members haven’t got at least one of Fuchsia’s cookbooks on their kitchen shelf. But Invitation to a Banquet is a little different. Rather than recipes, it’s the epic tale of the world’s most sophisticated gastronomic culture, told through …

China’s global power is growing, that is undeniable. The question is, what are the limits of that power, and how should other countries respond to that rise? Paul French talks to Advantage China author Jeremy Garlick to find out. Associate Professor at Prague University of Economics and Business Jeremy Garlick examines China’s global policies, notably towards the global South, and its emerging financial and influential footprint worldwide in his new …