China Rising: Challenges and Opportunities

It is noteworthy that China's remarkable success in economic development has occurred under a relatively statist economy, while the more liberalized economies of most other developing countries have fared far less well. This paper compares China's experience to those of other newly industrialized East Asian countries, concluding that key to successful development is an appropriate balance between the state and markets, and between politics and economics. It is argued that to be most effective, such a balance must allow the collective interests of society to be sufficiently defined and defended against competing private interests, whether these be national or international.