Unlike other economies, family businesses in China are greatly affected by the derived Confucian culture, excessive marketization, as well as the seemingly endless institutional supervision by a transitional Chinese government. China has a strong historical legacy, devoted to patriarchal values and strong family-centered traditions.
This volume discusses the current status, upcoming challenges, and future prospects for family businesses in China.  It explores unique organizational characteristics that are associated with Chinese family firms, such as being entrepreneurial, having concentrated power in the hands of the family business owners, and extensive family and semi-family involvement in the business. It also discusses shared features of strategic actions among Chinese family firms that include technology innovations, diversification, and internationalization, as well as the political connections that Chinese family firms often have. This book offers researchers a comprehensive overview of small family firms that are likely to be home-based microenterprises as well as large publicly traded business groups that are frequently owned by business families.

Ling Chen is Professor of Family Business and Business History in the School of Management, Zhejiang University, China. He is the Founding Director of the Institute of Family Business Research at Zhejiang University and has served as the Director of the Institute for Entrepreneurs since 2014. His main research areas are succession, professionalization, and corporate governance in family business, and comparative study in business history.

Jian An Zhu is a Professor and Dean of the Department of Applied Economics at Zhejiang University City College, China. Since 2011, he has served as the Director of the Institute of Entrepreneurship and Family Business.

Hanqing Fang is Assistant Professor of Business and Information Technology at Missouri University of Science and Technology, USA. His research primarily focuses on family firms, entrepreneurship, and strategic management.

1. Introduction .- 2. Status and characteristics of Chinese family business .- 3. Economic influences of Chinese family business .- 4. Entrepreneurship and family business in China's modernization .- 5. Challenges of family business succession .- 6. Family governance and corporate governance .- 7. Resilience and adaptability in family business .- 8. Economic and socio-psychological functions in the family system .- 9. Historical heritage and cultural identity .- 10. Non-family management in family business .- 11. Rent-seeking or entrepreneurial? .- 12. Conclusion and outlook.