Discussion with Lynette Ong, Author of Prosper or Perish: Credit and Fiscal Systems in Rural China

Lynette Ong discusses her book which examines the bias in RCC lending patterns, focusing on why the mobilization of rural savings has contributed to successful industrial development in some locales but not in others.

The official banking institutions for rural China are the Rural Credit Cooperatives (RCCs). Although these co-ops are mandated to support agricultural development among farm households, since 1980 half of RCC loans have gone to small and medium-sized industrial enterprises located in, and managed by, townships and villages. These township and village enterprises have experienced highly uneven levels of success, and by the end of the 1990s, half of all RCC loans were in or close to default, forcing China's Central Bank to bail out the RCCs. In Prosper or Perish, Lynette Ong examines the bias in RCC lending patterns, focusing on why the mobilization of rural savings has contributed to successful industrial development in some locales but not in others      

Lynette Ong is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto. Her publications have appeared in Comparative Politics, International Political Science Review, China Quarterly, Pacific Affairs, Journal of East Asian Studies, Asian Survey, Foreign Affairs, and Far Eastern Economic Review, among others.    

*A light lunch will be provided.

Please RSVP at go.gwu.edu/LynetteOng. Space is limited