How China's Leaders Think: The Inside Story of China's Reform and What This Means for the Future

A fascinating look at China now and in the years to come, through the eyes of those at the helm As China continues its rapid ascent, attention is turning to its leaders, who they are, and how they view the country's incredible transformation over the last thirty years. In "How China's Leaders Think: The Inside Story of China's Past, Current and Future Leaders, Revised," bestselling author Lawrence Kuhn goes directly to the source, talking with members of China's ruling party and examining recently declassified Party material to provide readers with an intimate look at China's leaders and leadership structure, visionary principles, and convulsive past, and tracing the nation's reform efforts. Focusing on President Hu Jintao's philosophies and policies, the book looks to the next generation of China's leaders to ask the questions on everyone's lips. Who are China's future leaders? How do they view China's place in the world? Confronting China's leaders head on, Kuhn asks about the county's many problem, from economic imbalances to unsustainable development, to find out if there's a road map for change. Presenting the thoughts of key Chinese leaders on everything from media, military, banking, and healthcare to film, the Internet, science and technology, and much more, the book paints an intimate, candid portrayal of how China's leaders really think. Presents a fascinating insight into how China's leaders think about their country and where it's headed Asks the tough questions about China's need for reform Pulls together information from over 100 personal interviews as well as recently declassified Party documents Taking readers closer to Party officials than ever before, "How China's Leaders Think" documents China's thirty-year struggle toward economic and social reform, and what's to come.

Table of Contents:
About the Author vii Acknowledgments ix Overview: How China's Leaders Think xiii PART I GUIDING PRINCIPLES 1 1. Pride 3 2. Stability 13 3. Responsibility 19 4. Vision 27 PART II THINKING REFORM 35 5. Subjugation, Humiliation, Oppression 37 6. Reform's Epic Struggle 51 7. Tiananmen and Thereafter 67 8. What's a "Socialist Market Economy?" 75 9. How Communism Adopted Capital and Ownership 95 10. The Hidden Power of Jiang Zemin's "Three Represents" 107 11. The Driving Relevance of Hu Jintao's "Scientific Perspective on Development" 121 12. Snapshots of Economic Reform 133 13. The Countryside is Core 145 14. Rebalancing Imbalances 155 15. How Reform Permeates All Society 165 16. Here Come the Lawyers 177 17. Facing Up to Corruption 185 18. Values and the New Social Contract 193 PART III DOING REFORM 207 19. Provincial Pictures of Reform 209 20. Regional Dragonheads: Pudong (Shanghai) and Binhai (Tianjin) 223 21. What to Do with State-Owned Enterprises? 233 22. The Private Business Revolution 253 23. Banking Reform: The Largest Assets and Greatest Risks 263 24. Reforming Science & Technology with Sparks & Torches 277 25. Education: When Reform and Tradition Clash 287 26. Healthcare and Medical Reform: One Doctor's Story 293 27. Media and Publishing Reform: Hidden in Plain Sight 303 28. How Telecommunications and the Internet Changed China 321 29. Diversity of Culture; Question of Censorship 333 30. How China's Leaders Love Film 345 31. Why Religion Became Important 359 32. Foreign Policy Breaks Free 375 33. What does Military Reform Mean? 393 34. Telling China's Story to the World 405 PART IV REFORM'S FUTURE 419 35. China's Future Senior Leaders 421 36. China's New Kind of Leaders 441 37. China's Economic Future: How Far Can It Go? 461 38. Guangdong Visions 473 39. China's Political Future: Is Reform Real? 487 40. China Threat or China Model? 505 41. China Reflections and Visions 521 Index 533

About the Author :
Robert Lawrence Kuhn has a doctorate in brain science and is the author or editor of more than 25 books. Five of his books have been translated into Chinese, including two editions of Closer To Truth. Dr. Kuhn is the author of The Man Who Changed China: The Life and Legacy of Jiang Zemin. The Chinese edition was the number one bestselling book in China in 2005 with sales of over one million and substantial publicity. His book is recognized as the first time that a biography of a living Chinese leader has been published on the Chinese mainland, and stories of its success in China have run in the international press. Dr. Kuhn is also recognized as an international investment banker and expert on China. Since 1989 he has been advising the Chinese government on economic policy, mergers and acquisitions, science and technology, media and culture, and international communications. He is Senior Advisor to Citigroup and was president and co-owner of The Geneva Companies, the leading mergers and acquisitions firm for middle market businesses, which he sold to Citigroup in 2001. Dr. Kuhn regularly appears on CNBC / Bloomberg, writes commentaries in BusinessWeek, and has a featured column in Chief Executive magazine ("Uncommon Wisdom"). Dr. Kuhn is chairman of The Kuhn Foundation, which he founded and funded to disseminate new knowledge and understanding in science and philosophy, support cultural endeavors, and promote good relations between America and China. He is vice chairman of the new Beijing Institute for Frontier Science and on the editorial board of Frontier Science journal. Dr. Kuhn initiated a high-level conference between the AAAS and the Chinese Association for Science and Technology on "Scientific Ethics, Responsibility and Freedom" (2007). Robert Lawrence Kuhn has a doctorate in brain science and is the author or editor of more than 25 books. Five of his books have been translated into Chinese, including two editions of Closer To Truth. Dr. Kuhn is the author of The Man Who Changed China: The Life and Legacy of Jiang Zemin. The Chinese edition was the number one bestselling book in China in 2005 with sales of over one million and substantial publicity. His book is recognized as the first time that a biography of a living Chinese leader has been published on the Chinese mainland, and stories of its success in China have run in the international press. Dr. Kuhn is also recognized as an international investment banker and expert on China. Since 1989 he has been advising the Chinese government on economic policy, mergers and acquisitions, science and technology, media and culture, and international communications. He is Senior Advisor to Citigroup and was president and co-owner of The Geneva Companies, the leading mergers and acquisitions firm for middle market businesses, which he sold to Citigroup in 2001. Dr. Kuhn regularly appears on CNBC / Bloomberg, writes commentaries in BusinessWeek, and has a featured column in Chief Executive magazine ("Uncommon Wisdom"). Dr. Kuhn is chairman of The Kuhn Foundation, which he founded and funded to disseminate new knowledge and understanding in science and philosophy, support cultural endeavors, and promote good relations between America and China. He is vice chairman of the new Beijing Institute for Frontier Science and on the editorial board of Frontier Science journal. Dr. Kuhn initiated a high-level conference between the AAAS and the Chinese Association for Science and Technology on "Scientific Ethics, Responsibility and Freedom" (2007).