This work argues that the common view that China's gradualistic approach has served it well overlooks the fact that state-owned banks for the last two decades have channeled household savings into money-losing companies. It suggests China should recapitalize and restructure its banking system.

But the alternative is even le ss attractive--permanently slower growth, continued macroeconomic instability, an inability to meet the expectations of the international community for the opening of its domestic financial markets, and insufficient resources to deal with severe environmental deterioration, growing water shortages, and a rapidly aging population. This timely book also analyzes the new reform initiatives China has launched in the wake of the Asian financial crisis, suggests additional steps that must be taken, and evaluates the implications for U.S. policy. Nicholas R. Lardy is a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies program at the Brookings Institution. His previous books include China in the World Economy (Institute for International Economics, 1994) and Foreign Trade and Economic Reform in China, 1978-1990 (Cambridge, 1992).