China has quickly transformed itself from a place of stark poverty into a modern, urban, technologically savvy economic powerhouse.

Authors Scott Rozelle and Natalie Hell draw on extensive surveys on the ground in China and reveal that while China may be the second-largest economy in the world, its labor force has one of the lowest levels of education of any comparable country. Over half of China’s population—as well as a vast majority of its children—are from rural areas. Their low levels of basic education may leave many unable to find work in the formal workplace as China’s economy changes and manufacturing jobs move elsewhere.

Hear the views of the book’s author and discussants on how understanding the situation in China today is essential if we are to potentially avoid an economic crisis and humanitarian concerns that could upend economies and foreign relations around the globe.

Book Overview:

Scott Rozelle, Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Helen F. Farnsworth Endowed Professorship, Stanford University

Discussants:

Huan Wang, Social Science Research Scholar at Rural Education Action Program (REAP), Stanford University

Xiaobo Zhang, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI

LINKS:

Book: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/I/bo61544815.html

More on the seminar: https://www.ifpri.org/event/virtual-event-invisible-china-how-urban-rural-divide-threatens-chinas-rise

Subscribe IFPRI Insights newsletter and event annoucements at www.ifpri.org/content/newsletter-subscription