The first sees China's hypergrowth as a gigantic government-engineered bubble.
How could a nation with 1.4 billion people transform itself relatively suddenly from a vastly impoverished agricultural land into a formidable industrial powerhouse when so many tiny nations have been unable to do so despite their more favorable social-economic conditions? Among the many conflicting views that have emerged to interpret China's rise, two stand out as the most popular and provocative. Along the way, China is igniting new growth across Asia, Latin America, Africa and even the industrial West, thanks to the country's colossal demand for raw materials, energy, trade and capital flows.Ĭhina's rapid growth has puzzled many people, including economists. The reason is simple: Less than 10 percent of the world's population is fully industrialized if China can successfully finish its industrialization, an additional 20 percent of the world's population will be entering modern times. China's industrial revolution, which started 35 years ago, is perhaps one of the most important economic and geopolitical phenomena since the original Industrial Revolution 250 years ago.