At its creation in 1949, the People’s Republic was a technologically backward, poverty-ridden country—“a vast poorhouse,” wrote American strategist George Kennan, “for which responsibility is to be avoided.” 4 When Mao Zedong died in 1976, the country remained appallingly underdeveloped. Over time, however, the combination of good fortune and enlightened economic reforms moved China from socialist stagnation to bustling authoritarian capitalism. The resulting growth was mind-blowing: Real gross domestic product grew 37-fold between 1978 and 2018.5 Today, China has the world’s largest economy
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