The chapters in this latest edition of China Briefing reflect broadly on China's transformation in the twentieth century. The authors not only examine developments in China over the 1997-1999 period, but also place these events in a wider historical perspective by addressing the following questions: Where has China traveled over the course of the century? To what extent has it been transformed, and how? What are the enduring themes or points of continuity, even during a century of great change and transformation? And what are China's prospects for the future?