The Dark Side of China's Rise

China's economic boom has dazzled investors and captivated the world. But beyond the new high-rises and churning factories lie rampant corruption, vast waste, and an elite with little interest in making things better. Forget political reform. China's future will be decay, not democracy.

BY MINXIN PEI | FEBRUARY 17, 2006

The only thing rising faster than China is the hype about China. In January, the People's Republic’s gross domestic product (GDP) exceeded that of Britain and France, making China the world's fourth-largest economy. In December, it was announced that China replaced the United States as the world's largest exporter of technology goods. Many experts predict that the Chinese economy will...

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Minxin Pei is senior associate and director of the China Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is the author of China's Trapped Transition: The Limits of Developmental Autocracy (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2006).

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 SUBJECTS: CHINA