China is undergoing unprecedented spatial transformations. The Yangtze Delta and the Pearl River Delta are fast becoming the world's largest light manufacturing bases. Beijing, being the national capital and the home to China's best universities and research institutions, is especially well positioned to attract transnational capital. Mega-urban regions are fast taking shape in China, and the structure and form of cities are manifesting massive changes. Accession to the World Trade Organization will intensify the competition for the world city status among the country's leading cities, and will likely aggravate the problem of uneven spatial development. The recently pronounced policy of grand development of the western region may be an effective measure to reduce the problem of rising spatial disparities, but the fragile environment of China's western interiors is already at risk. Clearly, the study of cities and regions in China has immense theoretical and practical relevance.

Over the past few years, Hong Kong Baptist University has gained increasing international recognition in China urban and regional research. The establishment of the Centre for China Urban and Regional Studies (CURS) builds upon this strength, with a view to further enhancing Hong Kong's status as an academic hub for the study of China's cities and regions.