Economic reform in China since 1980 has seen the emergence of new categories of wealth and power. As social hierarchies change, new ways of discussing contemporary Chinese society must be found. Is it appropriate to describe the emergent new rich as a 'new middle class'?

David Goodman is Professor of Contemporary China Studies at the University of Technology, Sydney and a sinofile in the truest sense, with degrees from the University of Manchester, Beida, and SOAS in London, and a string of publications on social change in China. Tonight's event is held with the support of the Australia China Alumni Association, of which UTS is a partner.