There is a growing consensus, amongst policy analysts and scientists alike, that China is likely to play a key role in the scientific, clinical and commercial development of stem cell research. However, to date, there exist few detailed analyses of China's current investment in the field. After introducing the UK's recent political strategy on stem cell science, this article develops an in-depth discussion of the formal organization of China's research and development in the area, as well as its rapidly evolving commercial, regulatory and ethical environment. From here, we go on to assess the probability of China's emergence as a global player in the increasingly internationalized business of stem cell biomedicine.

The globalization of stem cell science is increasingly being shaped by the emerging economies of the Asia/Pacific region. Undaunted and unhampered by the more established views of the commercialization of science, countries such as India are constructing models of innovation, policies and patterns of investment that challenge such orthodoxies. This report examines the position of India within the globalization of stem cell science, its adjustments to the developing knowledge market in this field and its particular contribution to the likely future of this promising bioeconomy.

International political economy (IPE) is a fi eld much absorbed by theoretical questions and, perhaps as a consequence, has become divided. There is potential strength in the diversity this creates-but only if scholars are willing and able to converse across the divide. I outline a folk taxonomy of the fi eld and discuss recent developments in IPE theory: developments that could and should facilitate conversation between the diff erent types of scholar. I argue that empirical work is much enriched when the object of study is viewed from diff erent theoretical standpoints; focusing on human biotechnology, I show how diff erent IPE perspectives shed light on the vivid challenge of the growing global 'bioeconomy' and the political economy of commerce in human tissue. The early evolution of IPECritique has propelled the evolution of IPE. 1 It is, of course, central to the selfunderstanding of those practising critical IPE. Less well remembered is that the fi eld itself was conceived as a critique of the failure of International Relations scholars to engage with the international economy. 2 IPE emerged as the international economy developed apace in the 1960s, sparking interest in the politics of the international economy. The emerging fi eld drew upon diverse sources, including economics and history as well as international relations, manifesting a disciplinary promiscuity that remains a feature to this day. A feature of early IPE that has not survived, however, is the engagement that knit together an 'extensive invisible college' of pioneering scholars. 3 As this invisible college unravelled, two types of