Chinas Second Continent How A Million Migrants Are Building A New Empire In Africa Howard W French by Howard W. French 9780385351683, 0385351682, B00GVZVB9W instant download after payment.

When China launched its historic opening toward the end of the 1970s, the country and its people not only became the fortunate beneficiaries of astute new policies, but also—crucially—of magnificent timing. The next few years, as they unfolded, would take shape as an era of unprecedented globalization, and no country would pro􀉹t more from the coming tidal wave of economic change.

In little more than a decade, China went from being a poor society with an economy that produced few goods for export and imported little, to positioning itself to become the so-called factory of the world, as we recognize it today.

As great as this era of change proved to be for China and for the Chinese, though, globalization was essentially being carried out on other people’s terms, namely those of the United States, Western Europe, and Japan. The economic powerhouses of the rich world sought new outlets for their surplus capital, as well as low-wage labor for their enterprises, allowing them to ply eager Western consumers with ever-cheaper goods. And for both of these purposes, China it the bill better than anyplace else on earth.