Hao Jingfang, the 2016 Hugo Award winner for best novelette, says: "I am interested in people's minds, what they are thinking about, and the differences between people in everyday life. I really like studying these kinds of details in people. So I always write about stuff not that far removed from real life. Perhaps one day I will try to write about some far away universal empire or something like that."

Hao's Folding Beijing deals with the inequality that has developed during rapid growth. Hao, who gained a PhD in economics at Tsinghua University in Beijing and is now deputy director of a macroeconomics research department at the China Development Research Foundation, says her professional work does not deal with inequality directly.

"I do projects on topics such as urbanization and government spending and we also look at what impact technological development will have on the job market."

Ji Shaoting, founder and chief executive of the Future Affairs Administration company in Beijing, argues that rapid change is a direct progenitor of China's new science fiction.

"Behind the golden age of science fiction in the US was fast developing science. So right now in China science and technology is developing so fast that it changes people's lives every day. Forget money because you can now pay by phone; You can pick up and rent a bicycle anywhere; and with a quick phone call you can have food delivered to you. People can feel our country reaching to the stars, and they are focusing on that."

China is developing so fast that people can feel the impact of science and technology, Ji says.

"Science fiction is about the relationship between people and science. So now that science fiction is developing so rapidly, it means people are conscious of it. I always tell my colleagues and investors - and science fiction fans - that if there is any place the golden age can return to, it's China."

davidblair@chinadaily.com.cn