While most of the world is focused on China’s drive to become a tech giant and global superpower, far too little attention has been paid to rural China. By contrast, for the past three decades Stanford University’s Scott Rozelle has kept his focus on this “other China,” which still accounts for 10% of the world’s population. Professor Rozelle will present findings from his forthcoming book on China’s countryside, The Other China: Rural China's Human Capital Crisis and Future Growth and Stability (forthcoming Spring 2018), which paints a far more gloomier picture than most now associate with China. He will also offer productive ways these problems could be addressed and why doing so is important not only for China but global society as well. Following his presentation, Georgetown University Professor Kristin Looney will offer an initial commentary, drawing in part from her own research on rural Chinese politics and society.
The China Reality Check Series presents perspectives from academia, industry, and government in order to promote a sustained dialogue on critical and insufficiently understood issues related to China's reemergence as a global power.
