China was clearly the rising star of the 20th century and is now in the process of becoming a new superpower of the 21st century. America and Europe - as the present leading players in the global political as well as economic arena - are observing China with a mixture of admiration and fear: With admiration, because China has made the leap from an "international nobody" to a "global player" within a few decades only and with fear, because this development has been accompanied by substantial new tensions in the political, economic, and social sphere which need to be resolved before this promising country can take its rightful place in the global arena for its own welfare as well as for the common good of the international community. What happens in China today is, therefore, not only of great significance for its own growth and development process, but also for redesigning the existing rules of the global political and economic power game between the established centers of gravity and its contemporary challengers.

This volume is to contribute to the knowledge of these complex relationships and, moreover, to the understanding of national and inter-regional growth and development opportunities. This objective is served by a total of 24 contributions addressing a broad range of current economic and policy challenges in the People's Republic of China and the European Union. The papers analyze the principles and mechanisms of long-term growth processes in general and discuss policy options ensuring sustainable developments within and between the two economic hemispheres.