Global sports and contemporary China: sport policy, international relations and new class identities in the People's Republic: by Oliver Rick and Longxi Li, USA, Palgrave Macmillan, 2023, 224 pp., £95.99 (hardback), ISBN 9783031185946.

"Global Sports and Contemporary China: Sport Policy, International Relations, and New Class Identities in the People's Republic" is a book written by Oliver Rick and Longxi Li. The authors, who are experts in the social science of sport, explore the intersection of sport, social issues, and culture in China. The book examines the development of the sports system in China from 1978 to the present, with a focus on the period after the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It analyzes how this system has shaped domestic social class identity and its role in Chinese state politics at the international level, using tennis and soccer as case studies. The book provides insights into China's global sports strategy, the evolution of soccer policy, the role of sport in shaping social class, and the potential future development of sports in China. While the book may be technical and specialized, it offers an in-depth and contextualized view of the topic. [Extracted from the article]