Aa is well known by now, China has got richer faster than any large country in history. In 1980 its share of world output was a paltry 2.2%; within a decade it will become the world's biggest economy, with a share of roughly 20%. In 1980 China still lived behind a wall. Today it scours the world for raw materials and sends out manufactures of every kind in return. It is most Asian countries' largest trading partner. Its diplomacy is funded by a seemingly endless supply of billion-dollar contracts. "If this isn't a world-altering shift," writes Jeffrey Sachs, an economist, "it's hard to imagine what would be."
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