The book describes how land plays a central role in the rapid economic growth of a Chinese region (with the fictitious name of “Dragon County”). Concerned with grain self-sufficiency, the national government of China employs a central planning approach to control the amount of farmland to be converted to urban uses each year. However, the scarcity of land development rights creates high incentives for various local players to evade national policies. Supported by a large number of specific examples, the book illustrates how local players adopt many kinds of strategies to engage in informal land development, and how the national government maneuvers its policies such that both farmland protection and economic growth objectives are achieved. The story of Dragon County, though not necessarily representative of other Chinese regions, suggests that the existing land system has worked reasonably well in promoting land use efficiency and economic growth at the same time, but the distributional problems created reflect a strong need for changing the rules of the game.

"The Land Development Game in China is a fine example of the large and growing body of literature that applies game theory to the analysis of land development behaviors and outcomes in China. ... The Land Development Game in China is well researched, makes a plausible argument, and contains many entertaining anecdotes about how people game the system." - The China Journal

"Ma has provided a vivid account of how the land system works in practice, and uncovers the behaviors of various public and private players. . . .[T]his book represents a major concrete step towards this aim, by providing one case study of the land development game in China and paying extra attention to the informal actions of local players. . . .The book is well illustrated and very readable. The chapters together provide us with insights into the on-the-ground realities of a sophisticated system and enrich our understanding of the centralised approach with Chinese characteristics. Readers who are interested in Chinese urban and rural studies may find interest in this book." - Urban Studies