This work investigates how the Chinese government navigated the tension between state control and the development of a functional, modern stock market between 1984 and 2002. Stephen Green, a specialist in Chinese economic development, utilizes extensive archival research and policy analysis to examine the creation of regulatory institutions. He argues that the evolution of China's equity markets was not a linear progression toward Western-style capitalism, but rather a deliberate process of institutional design shaped by political priorities and the necessity of maintaining state authority over public assets.

Experts recognize this text as a foundational study for understanding the early institutional architecture of the Chinese financial system. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose and the author's meticulous attention to the political nuances of market regulation.