In his new book “Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics”, economist Yasheng Huang, currently a Professor at MIT, challenges the assumption that China is steadily reforming itself into a market economy.

Huang claims that over the past 15 years China has seen the repression of (mostly rural) private enterprise in favour of state-directed urban-focused development.

His book takes Shanghai as a case in point, raising the question “what is wrong with Shanghai?”, and concluding that the city lacks entrepreneurial flair, its development financed by large subsidies from other parts of the country – a model which has contributed to a growing divide between rich and poor, urban and rural.

In the light of such development, Professor Huang will discuss how well China is likely to cope with the challenges posed by the current global economic environment.