Poverty and Inequality among Chinese Minorities

'As the first thorough study of poverty and inequality among China’s ethnic minorities … this book is warmly to be welcomed. Bhalla already has wide experience in studying development, poverty and inequality in various parts of the world and is well placed to make comparisons... The book is thoroughly documented, not only with the extensive English-language literature but also with some Chinese sources... The chapters on programmes are outstanding... There is serious attention given to the problems they encountered, with also some comparisons made with South Asian countries... To my knowledge, no other treatment of these important subjects goes into anything like the depth and sensitivity found in these chapters... It is scholarly, detailed and interesting... I recommend it strongly to scholars and students with special interests either in China or in the economics of poverty and inequality. Moreover, the general reader will learn much from it as well.' - Colin Mackerras, Asian Ethnicity, February 2007

'The authors provide an informative review and assessment of China’s anti-poverty policies and programs, focusing on the experience of Guizhou province – a province that is known for its acute absolute poverty, and with a substantial minority population, which is largely overlooked by the literature on China.' - Ding Sai, Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, Vol. 21, Issue 1, 2007

'Their book includes solid research as well as pragmatic policy proposals.' - Morris Rosabbi, Pacific Affairs, Fall 2006

‘As the first thorough study of poverty and inequality among China’s ethnic minorities …. this book is warmly to be welcomed. Bhalla already has wide experience in studying development, poverty and inequality in various parts of the world and is well placed to make comparisons. This book is thoroughly documented, not only with the extensive English-language literature but also with some Chinese sources, especially statistical data. The chapters on programmes are outstanding. There is serious attention to the problems they encountered, with also some comparisons made with South Asian countries. To my knowledge, no other treatment of these important subjects goes into anything like the depth and sensitivity found in these chapters. It is scholarly, detailed and interesting. I recommend it strongly to scholars and students with special interests either in China or in the economics of poverty and inequality. Moreover, the general reader will learn much from it as well’.

-- Colin Mackerras, Professor Emeritus, Griffiths University, Brisbane, Australia (author of China’s Minorities: Integration and Modernisation in the Twentieth Century and China’s Ethnic Minorities and Globalization), in ‘Asian Ethnicity’, February 2007.

‘The authors provide an informative review and assessment of China’s anti-poverty policies and programs, focusing on the experience of Guizhou province – a province that is known for its acute absolute poverty, and with a substantial minority population, which is largely overlooked by the literature on China’.

-- Ding Sai, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China’, in Asian-Pacific Economic Literature’, vol. 21, Issue 1, 2007.

‘ Their book includes solid research as well as pragmatic policy proposals…’.

-- Morris Rosabbi, City University of New York, USA, in ‘Pacific Affairs’, Fall 2006.

'This book is mainly a contribution to debates about the causes of and prognosis for poverty and inequality in China generally and among minorities particularly. Its topic and much of its discussion will nevertheless appeal to readers who know little of the debates, but seek to understand why minorities account for most of the absolutely poor in China and what is being done to change that.' - BARRY SAUTMAN, China Information