Introduction

Ma Shao is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Peking University. His book, Localized Bargaining, the Political Economy of China's High Speed Railway Program was recently published by Oxford University Press. Jude Blanchett: How did you get on the path of such an intense interest in China's political and bureaucratic system? Ma Shao: I was a Japanese major back in college, but that interest started when I was in high school.