China stands as a major “Red Swan” challenge to the social sciences. The resilience of the Communist party-state, in combination with a rapidly expanding and internationally competitive economy, challenges conventional models of economic development and political change. This book focuses on crucial governmental action programs and examines the manner in which they were developed, formulated, implemented, adjusted, and revised. It finds that Chinese policy making has been driven by a distinctive political methodology―an unusual combination of long-term national agendas with versatile local policy experimentation―that serves as an effective mechanism for policy innovation and correction, and thus provides strong adaptive capabilities in a perpetually shifting economic, technological and international context.