Name: Understanding the rise of China
Uploaded: 2011-01-24T15:47:00Z
Duration: 21 min 13 s
Description: Speaking at a TED Salon in London, Martin Jacques asks: How do we in the West make sense of China and its phenomenal rise? The author of "When China Rules the World," he examines why the West often puzzles over the growing power of the Chinese economy, and offers three building blocks for understanding what China is and will become.

Guangzhou station should be Wuhan station.

Speaking at a TED Salon in London, Martin Jacques asks: How do we in the West make sense of China and its phenomenal rise? The author of "When China Rules the World," he examines why the West often puzzles over the growing power of the Chinese economy, and offers three building blocks for understanding what China is and will become.

Understanding the rise of China

China is on track to become the world’s largest economy within a decade, a shift unprecedented in modern history. Its identity as a civilization-state, not a Western-style nation-state, shapes everything from its political unity to its cultural values. Western assumptions that modernization equals Westernization miss the deep roots and unique character of Chinese society. As China’s influence grows, the world will be shaped by unfamiliar histories and experiences.