This excellent compilation of essays on a complex topic, how the government guides development of the digital economy and how it has evolved, is a breath of fresh air and adds a much-needed facts-based and non-ideological corpus of understanding to our knowledge of this important topic. The book is free from some of the ideological spin of recent efforts to track and describe particularly the role of government in driving China’s rise as a technology power. The authors all appear to have first-hand and fresh knowledge of their subject areas, and avoid relying on second and third hand sources in ways that can sometimes become an echo chamber of analysis of China and technology in the age of highly geopolitically charged US-China technology competition. Well done all around.

Paul Triolo, senior vice president for China, global technology policy lead at Albright Stonebridge Group

At a time of growing geo-political tensions between China and the West, the importance of understanding China's strategies in the critical area of advanced technologies cannot be overstated. This volume draws on extensive research and expertise to provide a nuanced and authoritative account of China's technology ambitions and capabilities—and the sometimes wide gap between the two. It should be mandatory reading for all policy-makers dealing with China.

Nigel Inkster, senior advisor for China at IISS and author of "The Great Decoupling: China, America and the Struggle for Technological Supremacy"

The Emergence of China’s Smart State should be essential reading for anyone who seeks to understand China’s technological rise from a Beijing-centric perspective. Policymakers in particular will benefit from the way authors in the book have unpacked the complexity and contradictions present in China’s digital development and ambitions.

Meia Nouwens, senior fellow for Chinese security and defence policy, The International Institute for Strategic Studies