'The book The Evolution of the Stock Market in China's Transitional Economy by Chien-Hsun Chen and Hui-Tzu Shih offers valuable insights into the evolution and development of the Chinese stock market. The book was written with an important mission in mind - how to develop an efficient financial system that facilitates innovation and spontaneous evolution of the society.' - Guojun Wu, Journal of Asian Business 'Chien-Hsun Chen and Hui-Tzu Shih have produced an informative and insightful study of China's stock market development. In The Evolution of the Stock Market in China's Transitional Economy, the reader will find a straightforward account of the development of China's stock markets that further clarifies the role China's capital markets will play in the country's financial future.' - Mark T. Fung, The China Business Review The establishment of the Shanghai Stock Exchange in December 1990 was a landmark in China's institutional transformation. With this in mind, the authors consider the factors relating to institutional change - such as changes in the financial system, the scale and structure of stock market, operational efficiency and the regulatory system of the stock market. During the course of its development the Chinese stock market has experienced speculation, dramatic fluctuations and violations of market regulations of frequent and diverse natures. There is therefore, urgent need for the discussion contained within this volume of best procedure policies for the establishment of a properly ordered and regulated market. The authors assess the operational performance of listed companies, and changes in the external environment such as the impact of China's accession to the WTO on the stock market. The authors find that WTO accession will have a more serious impact on the more heavily protected agricultural sector and on capital-intensive industries such as automobile, instruments, cotton and wheat to name a few. They argue that the fundamental reason for the inefficiency of China's stock market is the weakness of the competitive mechanism leading to imperfect competition and rent-seeking activity. This book will be of great interest to academics and researchers of Asian studies and money and finance. Multinational enterprise managers, as well as brokers, dealers, business economists and others involved in the global financial markets will also find this book of value.