Sub-titled "How China's Resource Quest is Changing the World" , the authors, two Oxford academics, chart the transformation of China from a rural peasant-dominated economy to one with a powerful middle class with more megacities than anywhere in the world.

The book focuses on the resources required to fuel China’s rampant expansion plans. It is now engaged in a quest around the world for fuel, minerals, water and even land for farming, while Chinese traders are buying commodities, with consequences for economies, people and the environment. The authors’ research on the ground in countries affecting by this resource quest took them to different parts of Africa, the Middle East and South America, among other places.

As Chinese corporations venture abroad, they must also navigate different political regimes, participate in international markets and adapt to and, in some cases, adopt foreign standards and practices, which may lead to wide-ranging social and political ramifications at home.

The authors conclude that China is not pursuing its resource quest with reckless abandon, as some have suggested. Instead it is adjusting its strategy and tactics as it learns from experience, moderating its global impact in the process.