From Asia Times Online: Regional Powerhouse: The Greater Pearl River Delta and the Rise of China by Michael J. Enright, Edith E Scott and Ka-mun Chang.
As China’s role in the global economy expands, books and articles about Middle Kingdom rivals are flying off the assembly line as fast as toys and tank tops for export. But despite the mushrooming output, a version of the cliche about the weather applies to economic literature on China: Everybody writes about it, but no one tells you anything about it.
Regional Powerhouse: The Greater Pearl River Delta and the Rise of China deepens the available knowledge base without shedding much useful light. As its fuzzy book cover (that’s the printing, not our website or your computer) suggests, the book isn’t clear on a number of key points.
If you pick up the book, you likely already know that Pearl River Delta (PRD) refers to the area of southern China that includes portions of the mainland’s Guangdong province, Hong Kong and Macau. (The “greater” in the book’s title distinguishes this grouping from the mainland’s Pearl River Delta economic zone that excludes Hong Kong and Macau.) Maybe you also know that the Yangtze River Delta, Shanghai’s turf, is a second node of export-led prosperity and innovation.
