On November 1, 2018, Xinwen Lianbo, a daily news programme produced by China Central Television (CCTV) recommended to readers a list of books themed on celebrating the 40th anniversary of China's Reform and Opening-up. The publishing community launched a series of themed books such as China’s Reform and Opening-up: 40 Years On, Great Changes: China's Memoir since the Reform and Opening-up Policy, The 40 Years of China Rural Reform, and History of Guangdong's Reform and Opening-Up. Among them, the most representative book is The Development of China's Speical Economic Zones (1978-2018) published by Social Sciences Academic Press (China).
The book is written by a key project team of the National Social Science Fund of China led by Prof. Tao Yitao, director of the China Center for Special Economic Zone Research of Shenzhen University (CCSEZR), Shenzhen University. The team primarily consisted of Prof. Lu Zhiguo, Prof. Zhong Ruoyu and Prof. Liu Weili of Shenzhen University, Prof. Zhou Jianbo of Peking University and Prof. Zhang Qi of Fudan University.
The Development of China's Speical Economic Zones (1978-2018) is among "Research Series of Reform and Opening-up" of Social Sciences Academic Press selected into the “13th Five-Year” National Key Publishing Plan for Books. With history as the main line and based on facts and events, the book divides the 40-year development of special economic zones into five phases along the process of China's reform and opening-up. In this each, it analyzes and expounds the economy, politics, culture, environment and international cooperation associated with the construction of special economic zones, with emphasis on the background, conditions and characteristics, functions and missions, policies and implementation, development and achievements, and problems and challenges. As a theoretical summary of historical phases, the book comprehensively recounts the development story of special economic zones over the past four decades.
