Pick up the newspaper's business section, turn on the TV, or look at the back of your shirt collar or computer, and it should be clear: despite the ruling party's name, China is no longer a Communist country. But as China moves toward the market, there is no consensus about whether "capitalism" is a better label and, if so, what type of capitalist system China is evolving toward. Several lenses are often applied to China. Some describe the People's Republic as a "transition economy" struggling to become a free-market regulatory state and compare her with other post-Communist regimes in central Europe, Russia, and the former Soviet republics. Others see China as a "developmental state" akin to Japan and other East Asian countries. Still others believe China is most fruitfully compared to "crony capitalist" states in Southeast Asia and Latin America. And a final group of observers hold that China is sui generis and its differences with other countries far outweigh any similarities.

This conference critically examines these claims across a broad number of issues, including property rights, development of the legal system, the role of the local state, corruption, foreign trade and investment policy, protest, business lobbying, and the media. By bringing together China experts with general political economy specialists, the conference aims to foster a two-way conversation that benefits those concerned with both better understanding contemporary China and extending the frontiers of our theoretical knowledge.