Postscript by the Translator
In 2003, Mainland China acquired the rights of 12,516 books from overseas
publishers and licensed the rights of 811 Chinese books to overseas publishers, with
an inbound-outbound ratio of 15.4:1.1 Since Mainland China published 110,812 new
books in 2003, one out of every nine new books published in Mainland China was
introduced from overseas while less then 1% of new books published in Mainland
China were available in any foreign language. While an overwhelming majority of
acquired titles are in English, an overwhelming majority of Chinese titles are licensed
to non-English-speaking regions such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia,
Japan and South Korea. Therefore, for every 100 English books translated into
Chinese, less than one Chinese book was translated into English. This imbalance is
especially drastic between China and the U.S. so that Mr. Xin Guangwei of the
General Administration of Press and Publication of the PRC commented that “In
sharp contrast to China’s substantial rights acquisitions from the U.S., America’s
licensing from China is pathetically minimal.”2 Since most Chinese books introduced
to foreign readers are in the fields of traditional Chinese medicine, arts, culture and
language, only a very limited number of Chinese books about contemporary China,
especially about its economy and businesses, have been translated into English.
This huge imbalance can be partially attributed to the insufficient number of Chinese
books published in economics and business, especially high-quality ones. Only a few
excellent books on China’s reform have been published in Chinese up to this moment,
with Professor Wu Jinglian’s Economic Reform in Contemporary China (Dangdai
Zhongguo jingji gaige) being the most prominent one. This huge imbalance can also
be attributed to the language barrier because thousands of Chinese terms about reform
have been created in the past half century without their counterparts in any other
language. In the process of translating this book, about 3,000 special terms and
phrases were identified, including more than 1,000 with a Chinese origin, many of
which had never been translated into any other language. The language barrier is in
turn partially caused by the ideological constraint. For example, since hiring workers
by private business owners was considered committing the crime of exploitation by
fundamentalists, when the Chinese government partially lifted the ban on private
businesses in the early 1980s, it artificially divided private businesses into individual
businesses (geti qiye) hiring seven or less workers each and private enterprises (siying
qiye) hiring eight or more workers each and gave the green light only to the former.
The translation of this book is a Herculean task beyond the capacity of any single
person, especially someone with an extremely tight teaching and administration
1
China Publishing Yearbook (Zhongguo chuban nianjian), Beijing: China Publishing Yearbook Press,
2004.
2
Xin Guangwei, Publishing in China: An Essential Guide, Singapore: Thomson Learning, 2005, p. 238.
schedule like me at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS).
Fortunately, many people lent helpful hands. Dr. Zhou Xuelin of CEIBS Translation
and Publication Department, Dr. Liu Shengjun and Dr. Chen Junsong of CEIBS Case
Development Center, and Ms. Ma Xiaoying and Ms. Yan Xiaoyun of Donghua
University each reviewed a part of an early draft. Mr. Du Qian of CEIBS Translation
and Publication Department, Ms. Xu Po of CEIBS Case Development Center, and Mr.
Shen Baoshun and Ms. Hu Min of CEIBS Library helped check hundreds of quotes
and references. The contribution of Dr. Zhang Chunlin of the World Bank Office
Beijing deserve special acknowledgement because he reviewed all twelve chapters of
the early draft. Special thanks also go to editors of Thomson Leaning for their
professional expertise and advice on how to make this book more readable for an
audience outside China. Of course, all remaining mistakes, if any, are my
responsibility.
While some people in North America and Western Europe complain bitterly how
imbalanced their trade with China is, they often ignore the fact that there is a huge
imbalance between China and Western countries in terms of knowledge about the
other party. This imbalance causes difficulties and losses for both China and Western
countries, more for the latter than the former in my opinion. Therefore, effort to
deepen Western countries’ understanding of China brings benefits to both sides. I
believe that the publication of the English version of this book by the most
authoritative scholar on China’s economic reform is a significant contribution to this
effort.
In the twenty-first century, China is too important to be ignored or misunderstood.
Wang Jianmao
Professor of Economics
Academic Director of MBA Program
Director of Case Development Center
China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)