Yunnan-A Chinese Bridgehead to Asia

Tim Summers writes on the politics, economy, and international relations of contemporary China. He is a Senior Consulting Fellow with Chatham House in London, teaches at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), and advises corporates and investors on China. Tim holds a PhD in Chinese Studies from CUHK, and an MA from the University of Cambridge. He was British Consul-General in Chongqing from 2004 to 2007, when he traveled extensively in southwest China, including in Yunnan.

• DedicationList of figures and tablesList of abbreviationsNote on use of ChineseAcknowledgementsAbout the authorMap of AsiaYunnan timelineYunnan place names in ChineseChapter 1: Introduction: why Yunnan? Abstract:Previous studies on YunnanA provincial case study of China’s political and economic relationsStructure of the bookChapter 2: China in a changing world Abstract:Western China and the global economyChina and its Asian neighboursProvincial agency in China’s global interactionsChapter 3: Yunnan’s history in regional perspective Abstract:From Dian kingdom to Mongol conquestFrom Ming integration to ‘inward rebalancing’ in the QingLate Qing decline and European incursionsReform, revolution and the war period in YunnanYunnan from 1949Chapter 4: Repositioning Yunnan: ideas and policy Abstract:Early ideas of ‘opening up’ in YunnanTurning point: 1992Developing ideas and policyThe ‘great international transit route’ and CAFTANational belongingRepositioning continuedConclusionAcknowledgementsChapter 5: Yunnan and regional institutions Abstract:Early regional engagement: Greater Mekong SubregionYunnan and BCIMNew dynamics in the region(s) – CAFTA and a revitalised GMSGuangxi and regional institutionsYunnan and domestic regionalismConclusionChapter 6: Infrastructure development Abstract:The early 1990s: limited transport infrastructureTransport infrastructure in 2001Further developments: 2006 and beyondEnergy security and infrastructure developmentChallenges: politics and international relationsConclusionChapter 7: From border trade to ‘going out’ Abstract:New trends from 2001‘Going out’: outward investment from YunnanDomestic trade and investmentConclusionChapter 8: Conclusion Abstract:Provincial agency and ‘competitive internationalisation’China, Asia and global political economyReferencesIndex

"Yunnan is one of China's most strategically important regions, occupying a critical area where it serves as a bridgehead between the rest of the country and the diverse and complicated economies and polities of south and southeast Asia. Tim Summers has intimate experience of working in the region and has produced an excellent, readable and comprehensive study, locating this ethnically rich province in its historic and regional context, but then using Yunnan to illustrate the complex interdependencies of provinces in modern China and the ways in which they relate to the central government, to other provinces, and to the wider world. An important and rewarding new study." --Kerry Brown, University of Sydney"This is a succinct, clearly-written and well-presented discussion of how a province is able to articulate its own goals while working within a national system where many of the macro-economic policy levers like interest rates, growth targets and tax raising powers are still in the hands of the central government." --Asian Review of Books