The Color of China

{
  "authors": [
    "Minxin Pei"
  ],
  "type": "legacyinthemedia",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
  ],
  "collections": [],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "asia",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
  "programAffiliation": "AP",
  "programs": [
    "Asia"
  ],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "East Asia",
    "China"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Political Reform",
    "Economy"
  ]
}

In The Media

The Color of China

China's future economic performance could be undermined by half-finished and misguided government policies that have created persistent flaws in its economic institutions and structures.

By Minxin Pei

Published on Mar 3, 2009

Source: National Interest

The Color of ChinaForecasters of the fortunes of nations are no different from Wall Street analysts: they all rely on the past to predict the future. So it is no surprise that China’s rapid economic growth in the last thirty years has led many to believe that the country will be able to continue to grow at this astounding rate for another two to three decades. Optimism about China’s future is justified by the state’s apparently strong economic fundamentals—such as a high savings rate, a large and increasingly integrated domestic market, urbanization and deep integration into the global trading system. More important, China has achieved its stunning performance in spite of the many daunting economic, social and political difficulties that doomsayers have pointed to as insurmountable obstacles to sustainable growth in the past. With such a record of effective problem solving, it is hard to believe that China will not continue its economic rise.

Please visit the National Interest to read the complete essay.

About the Author

Minxin Pei

Former Adjunct Senior Associate, Asia Program

Pei is Tom and Margot Pritzker ‘72 Professor of Government and the director of the Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies at Claremont McKenna College.

Recent Work

In The Media
How China Can Avoid the Next Conflict
- Minxin Pei
In The Media
Small Change
- Minxin Pei

Political Reform Economy East Asia China

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie Europe

Commentary
Strategic Europe
The EU’s Middle-Power Puzzle
While the EU and European governments are embracing the much-lauded middle-power moment, this entails three difficult conundrums.
Richard Youngs
Book
The Scramble for Europe. Russia, China, and Turkey Challenging Regional Order
Europe is facing rising populism internally as well as external pressures from Russia, China, Turkey, and the United States.
Dimitar Bechev
Article
Europe’s Tide of Citizen Assemblies: Unsung Success or Anticlimax?
A notable degree of participative democracy has firmly arrived in Europe. But to have more far-reaching impact, democratic deliberation needs to move into a radically new phase.
Richard Youngs
Commentary
Strategic Europe
Taking the Pulse: Can the EU Stare Down China on Trade?
The European Commissioner for Trade is headed to China. But after President Xi’s bridge-building visit to Washington, can a more isolated EU overcome Beijing’s stranglehold on critical raw materials? Who will blink first?
Rym Momtaz, ed.
Commentary
Strategic Europe
How Le Pen Benefits from the Stalemate in Ukraine
The domestic impacts of how long it is taking to end the war in Ukraine have pushed the French electorate to the political extremes and compromised the country’s diplomatic capacity.
Rym Momtaz

More Work from Carnegie Europe

Commentary

Strategic Europe

The EU’s Middle-Power Puzzle

While the EU and European governments are embracing the much-lauded middle-power moment, this entails three difficult conundrums.

Richard Youngs

Book

The Scramble for Europe. Russia, China, and Turkey Challenging Regional Order

Europe is facing rising populism internally as well as external pressures from Russia, China, Turkey, and the United States.

Dimitar Bechev

European Union EU democracy Parliament citizens assembly

Article

Europe’s Tide of Citizen Assemblies: Unsung Success or Anticlimax?

A notable degree of participative democracy has firmly arrived in Europe. But to have more far-reaching impact, democratic deliberation needs to move into a radically new phase.

Richard Youngs

Commentary

Strategic Europe

Taking the Pulse: Can the EU Stare Down China on Trade?

The European Commissioner for Trade is headed to China. But after President Xi’s bridge-building visit to Washington, can a more isolated EU overcome Beijing’s stranglehold on critical raw materials? Who will blink first?

Rym Momtaz, ed.

Commentary

Strategic Europe

How Le Pen Benefits from the Stalemate in Ukraine

The domestic impacts of how long it is taking to end the war in Ukraine have pushed the French electorate to the political extremes and compromised the country’s diplomatic capacity.

Rym Momtaz