From impoverishment to global superpower, China’s supremacy happened at a breakneck speed thanks to the visionary strategy of the man who took power in 1978. Over the next decade, under leader Deng Xiaoping’s firm leadership, China flirted with capitalism and transformed its socio-economic and political systems, effectively becoming the world’s factory.
,professor of Chinese Studies and Director of the Lau China Institute at King’s College London and author of several books, including
, a writer specializing in contemporary China and author of