The Southern Tour: Deng Xiaoping and the Fight for China's Future

Deng Xiaoping's Southern Tour in 1992 was a pivotal moment in China's economic and political development, leading to the country's transformation into a global powerhouse. Jonathan Chatwin's book explores the tour's legacies and the challenges facing China today, including urbanization and the pursuit of wealth.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 200 pages
Publication date: 16 May 2024
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Deng Xiaoping, China's former paramount leader and revered elder statesman, embarked on a month-long trip around China's south in 1992 to defend the economic reforms he had initiated to transform the country into a political and economic powerhouse. Jonathan Chatwin's book, "The Southern Tour," explores the legacy of Deng's journey and its impact on China today. The book recounts the crucial debates and disagreements that characterized Chinese politics in the aftermath of the Tiananmen protests of 1989 and the decisive influence of Deng's journey in establishing an economic blueprint for the 1990s and beyond. It also explores the nation's transformation through large-scale urbanization, exemplified by the mega-cities of southern China that Deng visited and endorsed, but also highlights the conflicted leadership that has emerged as a result of Deng's legitimization of wealth pursuit. Drawing on historical and contemporary eyewitness accounts and the author's own 3,000-mile journey in Deng's footsteps, "The Southern Tour" brings to life the story of China's transformation into a 21st-century superpower.

Weight: 267g
Dimension: 216 x 138 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350435711