Enhancing China's Competitiveness Through Lifelong Learning ...

Acknowledgments
This book was developed by Carl Dahlman, Douglas Zhihua Zeng (World Bank
Institute), and Shuilin Wang (Development Economics Vice Presidency of the World
Bank). Douglas Zhihua Zeng also provided overall coordination of the writing process.
Jean-Eric Aubert and Bruno Laporte provided valuable management support
and guidance. The book was prepared at the request of the Chinese government
and the World Bank’s China Country Department, East Asia Vice Presidency (EAP),
and Human Development Network (HD). We want to especially thank the EAP
region and HD Network, which, along with WBI, co-financed this work through
the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) Trust Funds. Without
their generous financial support, this work could not have been conducted.
The book was reviewed by the China Country Team. Peer reviewers included
Jamil Salmi (HD), Ronald Perkinson (International Finance Corporation), and Lan
Xue (Tsinghua University). We are grateful for their comments. We are also very
grateful to Frannie Léautier, Vice President of WBI, for her detailed comments on an
earlier draft; to David Dollar, World Bank’s Country Director for China; and to
Emmanuel Jimenez, Christopher Thomas, Bert Hofman, and Xiaoqing Yu for their
valuable support and advice. We would like to thank the following colleagues for
their insightful inputs and comments: Berry McGaw, Kurt Larsen, Eduardo Velez
Bustillo, David Fretwell, Charles Abelmann, Gwang-Jo Kim (now in the Korean Ministry
of Education and Human Development), Kin Bing Wu, Liping Xiao, Xiaonan
Cao, Richard Hopper, and Yidan Wang. Lei Liu and Faythe Agnes Calandra provided
valuable research and administrative assistance, respectively.
We are also highly indebted to our key Chinese counterpart, Vice Minister
Jiange Li of the Development Research Center of the State Council, who spearheaded
the study and guided us through the whole process. We are also very
thankful to Vice Minister Shaochun Zhang, Ministry of Finance, and to Madam
Keming Hao, President of the China Education Strategy Institute for their valuable
advice and guidance. Great thanks also go to Li Zhang, Director General of
the China Research Center for Education Development of the Ministry of Education
(MOE); Lan Xue, Executive Associate Dean, School of Public Policy and Management,
Tsingua University; Angang Hu, Director, Center for Chinese Studies,
Tsingua University; Xianjin Dou, Division Chief, China Center for Education
Development; and Gang Zong, Director of Academic and Information Exchange
Department of the China Education Association for International Exchange, who
helped organize many seminars and policy dialogues. Various consultations were
also conducted with the State Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry
of Labor and Social Security, the Shanghai Academy of Education Sciences, China
Central Radio and TV University, and the University of Beijing.
The book also benefited from the seminar on “Building a Lifelong Learning System
in China” held in Tianjin, China, in April 2004, and the “International Forum
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