Introduction: Crime, Law and Criminology in China
| Author | Jianhong Liu,Roderic Broadhurst |
| DOI | 10.1177/00048658040370S101 |
| Published date | 01 December 2004 |
| Date | 01 December 2004 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Introduction: Crime, Law and
Criminology in China
Roderic Broadhurst
University of Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China
Jianhong Liu
Rhode Island College, United States ofAmerica, and Nanjing University,
People’s Republic of China
ver the past two and a half decades, China has experienced a
0
profound social transition from
a
state socialist command economy
to a market economy. These fundamental changes have altered every
aspect of Chinese society.The economic reform has achieved remarkable
success. From 1990 to
2002,
China’s GDP increased by an average of
9%
per annum, making
it
the sixth largest economy in the world by 2002,
with a GDP of
$US
I
.23
trillion (China
Statistical
Bureau,
2003).
The
accelerated economic development has transformed China into one of
the world’s leading economies.
It
has become the fastest growing
economy in the world and the fifth largest exporting nation, and an
engine of growth for the entire Pacific Rim.The opening up of ‘Red’
China to the world has led to enormous and fundamental changes in the
social and economic life of all Chinese people, especially in urban areas
and coastal regions.
Social Change, Crime and the Law
China’s transformation has also given rise
to
serious social problems that have
required major innovation in the roles
of
state, provincial and local agencies,
including those tasked with policing and social control functions. The sheer magni-
tude
of
the changes in economic, governmental and social practices and values has
engendered new opportunities and motives
to
engage in criminal and antisocial
activities, while at the same time rendering many traditional methods
of
public
security and crime suppression ineffective. The drive
to
modernise the policing and
regulatory agencies, fraught
as
it is with the contradictions and dynamism
of
a
transitional economy, is therefore crucial: crime and social disorder have become
one
of
China’s most significant social problems.
The problem
of
crime has attracted increasing scholarly attention and numer-
ous responses from government. Traditional explanations for the causes
of
crime in
Address for correspondence: Associate Professor Roderic Broadhurst, Department of Sociology,
University of Hong
Kong,
Pokfulam Rd, Pokfulam, Hong Kong,
PR
China. E-mail:
broadie@hkucc.hku.hk
THE AUSTRALIAN AND
NEW
ZEALAND JOURNAL
OF
CRIMINOLOGY
VOLUME
37
SUPPLEMENT
2004
PP.
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