Mainland China likes to present its coastal cities as undeniable economic success stories. However, gaping economic inequalities exist in the country between rural and urban areas. These inequalities are also reflected in the quality of education provided depending on the location of schools. Based on a long-term research, the conference will present the explanatory causes of this phenomenon (hukou system, health problems...) and the factors which slow down the central government to get involved to counter this phenomenon.

Dr. Scott Rozelle is an internationally recognized scholar. He is a Helen F. Farnsworth Professor in International Agricultural Policy and senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. He is co-director of the Center on the Chinese Economy, the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and the Institute for Political Economy Research at Stanford University. An academic with extensive research experience in rural China, his recent work on the problems of China's education system has resulted in numerous publications.