This book draws attention to two neglected areas in the growing body of research on welfare in China: subnational variation and the changing mix of state and non-state provision. The contributors to this volume demonstrate the diversity of local welfare provision that lies behind broad national policies and programmes. Their focus on local diversity is particularly relevant to understanding the welfare system in China because national state programmes are so often organized by local governments in line with the specifics of their economic and social development. At the same time that social and economic development is itself independently creating an array of different conditions that shape non-state (family, business and third sector) welfare roles .

Through chapters that draw on original research in eight provinces, the book adopts a ‘local’ perspective to illustrate and explain some of the transformations that are under way and discuss not only local government initiatives and programmes, but also the services and support provided by families, informal social networks and community or third sector organizations, as well as those delivered by private businesses on a commercial, for-profit basis.

This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Chinese society, social policy, and Chinese studies more widely.

Beatriz Carrillo is Lecturer in Asian Studies at the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia

Jane Duckett is Professor of Chinese and Comparative Politics at the University of Glasgow, UK