Yearbook 2021: Contradiction

In the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the many facets of crisis — the theme of last year’s China Story Yearbook — fractured into pictures of contradiction throughout Chinese society and the Chinese sphere of influence. Contradiction: the ancient Chinese word for the concept holds within it the image of an irresistible spear meeting … more

Yearbook 2020: Crisis

China Story Yearbook: Crisis

The year 2020 was marked by a series of rolling crises. The Australian wildfires at the start of the year were a catastrophic sign of the global climate crisis. Xi Jinping’s announcement in September that the People’s Republic of China would become carbon neutral by 2060 could help alleviate the crisis, but China has to … more

Yearbook 2019: China Dreams

The year 2019 marked a number of significant anniversaries for the People’s Republic of China (PRC), each representing different ‘Chinese dreams’. There was the centennial of the May Fourth Movement – a dream of patriotism and cultural renewal. The PRC celebrated its seventieth anniversary – a dream of revolution and national strength. It was also … more

Yearbook 2018: Power

In 2018, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was, by most measures, more powerful than at any other time in its history and had become one of the most powerful countries in the world. Its economy faced serious challenges, including from the ongoing ‘trade war’ with the US, but still ranked as the world’s second … more

Yearbook 2017: Prosperity

A ‘moderately prosperous society’ with no Chinese individual left behind—that’s the vision for China set out by Chinese President Xi Jinping in a number of important speeches in 2017. ‘Moderate’ prosperity may seem like a modest goal for a country with more billionaires (609 at last count) than the US. But the ‘China Story’ is … more

Yearbook 2016: Control

‘More cosmopolitan, more lively, more global’ is how the China Daily summed up the year 2016 in China. It was also a year of more control. The Chinese Communist Party laid down strict new rules of conduct for its members, continued to assert its dominance over everything from the Internet to the South China Sea and announced … more

Yearbook 2015: Pollution

Environmental pollution poses serious challenges for China, including to its economy as well as public health. The China Story Yearbook 2015: Pollution looks at how China’s Communist Party-state addresses these problems and how Chinese citizens have coped with and expressed their concerns about living with chronic, worsening pollution. This Yearbook also explores the broader ramifications of pollution in the … more

Yearbook 2014: Shared Destiny

Humanity as never before shares a common destiny, whether it be in terms of the resources of the planet, the global environment, economic integration, or the movement of peoples, ideas, cultures. For better or worse humankind is a Community of Shared Destiny 命运共同体. The People’s Republic of China under the leadership of the Chinese Communist … more

Yearbook 2013: Civilising China

As China becomes wealthier and more confident on the global stage, it also expects to be respected and accommodated as a major global force – and as a formidable civilisation. Through a survey and analysis of China’s regional posture, urban change, social activism and law, mores, the Internet, history and thought – in which the … more

Yearbook 2012: Red Rising, Red Eclipse

The China Story Yearbook brings together the various talents of the Australian Centre on China in the World. It is aimed at the engaged public, as well as specialists, journalists, businesspeople, diplomats and students. The inaugural Yearbook is titled Red Rising, Red Eclipse, and it covers the period from 2009 to mid 2012. Produced by academics and writers … more