With a history stretching back 4,000 years, China is one of Earth’s oldest civilizations.

Until the early 20th century, it was ruled by powerful emperors, many of whom kept the country largely cut off from the world.

In 1949, an authoritarian Communist government took over, but China remained isolated and plagued by poverty until it began to transform itself by embracing aspects of capitalism in the early 1980s.

Today, China’s $14.3 trillion economy is the world’s second biggest, after that of the U.S. Its population of 1.4 billion people is the second largest, after India’s. Its military is one of the most potent, with 2 million troops. And it’s one of just five nations—along with the U.S., Russia, Britain, and France—with veto power in the United Nations Security Council.

“China is unquestionably one of the most influential and powerful countries in the world,” says Stapleton Roy, a former U.S. ambassador to China.

That’s why Americans should understand China. Here and in the next issue of Upfront, we’ll answer 10 questions that help define China and the challenges it poses for the U.S. and other nations.

With a history stretching back 4,000 years, China is one of Earth’s oldest civilizations.

Until the early 20th century, it was ruled by powerful emperors. Many of the emperors kept the country largely cut off from the world.

In 1949, an authoritarian Communist government took over. China remained isolated and plagued by poverty. In the early 1980s, it began to transform itself by embracing aspects of capitalism.

Today China’s $14.3 trillion economy is the world’s second biggest. (The U.S. is the world’s biggest economy.) China’s population of 1.4 billion people is the second largest, after India’s. Its military is one of the most potent, with 2 million troops. And it’s one of just five nations—along with the U.S., Russia, Britain, and France—with veto power in the United Nations Security Council.

“China is unquestionably one of the most influential and powerful countries in the world,” says Stapleton Roy, a former U.S. ambassador to China.

That’s why Americans should understand China. Here and in the next issue of Upfront, we’ll answer 10 questions that help define China and the challenges it poses for the U.S. and other nations.

Forty years ago, China was a poor country. Bicycles filled its streets because almost no one could afford a car. People needed ration coupons to buy cooking oil or clothes.

Today, China’s booming cities overflow with automobile traffic. High-speed rail lines connect 900 cities. People can order anything on their smartphones, and digital transactions are quickly replacing paper money. China now boasts more billionaires—more than 950—than any other nation, including the U.S.

“The daily lives of average Chinese have been utterly transformed,” says Scott Kennedy of the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington, D.C. “China has gone from being a very undeveloped, poor, agricultural-based economy with a lot of state-owned enterprises to having a world-class economy that is extremely dynamic.”

China has lifted 800 million people out of poverty in the past 40 years, according to the World Bank. The government has poured money into building new airports and upgrading its military. It has nuclear weapons and a space program that’s planning to send humans to the moon.

Forty years ago, China was a poor country. Bicycles filled its streets because almost no one could afford a car. People needed ration coupons to buy cooking oil or clothes.

Today China’s booming cities overflow with automobile traffic. High-speed rail lines connect 900 cities. People can order anything on their smartphones. Digital transactions are quickly replacing paper money. China now boasts more than 950 billionaires. That is more than any other nation, including the U.S.

“The daily lives of average Chinese have been utterly transformed,” says Scott Kennedy of the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington, D.C. “China has gone from being a very undeveloped, poor, agricultural-based economy with a lot of state-owned enterprises to having a world-class economy that is extremely dynamic.”

China has lifted 800 million people out of poverty in the past 40 years, according to the World Bank. The government has poured money into building new airports and upgrading its military. It has nuclear weapons. It has a space program that’s planning to send humans to the moon.

Does this massive transformation mean that China is a superpower?

“If the Soviet Union was a superpower, then China absolutely merits that title because it’s a much stronger country than the Soviet Union ever was,” says Damien Ma of the Paulson Institute, a U.S.-China relations think tank.

But experts caution that China is nowhere near as strong as the U.S.—even economically. China’s per capita GDP of $17,600 (compared with $63,700 in the U.S.) puts it behind struggling countries like Kazakhstan and Libya.

“It’s got a long way to go,” says Ian Johnson, a China expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, “before it’s a prosperous country like the U.S.”

Does this massive transformation mean that China is a superpower?

“If the Soviet Union was a superpower, then China absolutely merits that title because it’s a much stronger country than the Soviet Union ever was,” says Damien Ma of the Paulson Institute, a U.S.-China relations think tank.

But experts caution that China is nowhere near as strong as the U.S. China’s per capita GDP of $17,600 (compared with $63,700 in the U.S.) puts it behind struggling countries like Kazakhstan and Libya.

“It’s got a long way to go,” says Ian Johnson, a China expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, “before it’s a prosperous country like the U.S.”

Take a look around your room. There’s a good chance that much of what’s there—from your phone to your sneakers—was made in China. In 2021, Chinese factories churned out 1.7 billion smartphones—two-thirds of all those produced worldwide. China makes 80 percent off the world’s laptops, 75 percent of its solar panels, and 60 percent of its electric cars.

China didn’t always dominate the business of making things. Many U.S. companies used to manufacture products at home, with everything from jeans to steel coming from American assembly lines.

Take a look around your room. There’s a good chance that much of what’s there was made in China. This could include your phone or your sneakers. In 2021, Chinese factories churned out 1.7 billion smartphones. That makes up two-thirds of all those produced worldwide. China makes 80 percent of the world’s laptops. It also produces 75 percent of solar panels and 60 percent of electric cars.

China didn’t always dominate the business of making things. Many U.S. companies used to manufacture products at home, with everything from jeans to steel coming from American assembly lines.

^{Source: Statista}

^{Source: Statista}

What changed? With a massive rural population, China has had a huge supply of eager workers willing to labor long hours in factories for low pay, because the $3.85 an hour they earn on average is a lot more than they’d make farming.

“Chinese labor is cheap because of the endless supply,” says Miles Yu, director of the China Center at the Hudson Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank. “It’s easier for international companies to run factories in China and maximize their profits—there’s no labor law or environmental protections to worry about.”

Chinese manufacturing began with cheap plastic toys and clothes. Then China started producing basic electronics, and now it makes more-advanced electronics, like iPhones and computers. In some ways, China is a victim of its own success. Rising wages mean it isn’t as cheap a place to make things as it once was.

What changed? With a massive rural population, China has had a huge supply of eager workers willing to labor long hours in factories for low pay. The $3.85 an hour they earn on average is a lot more than they’d make farming.

“Chinese labor is cheap because of the endless supply,” says Miles Yu. Yu is the director of the China Center at the Hudson Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank.

“It’s easier for international companies to run factories in China and maximize their profits—there’s no labor law or environmental protections to worry about.”

Chinese manufacturing began with cheap plastic toys and clothes. Then China started producing basic electronics. Now it makes more-advanced electronics, like iPhones and computers. In some ways, China is a victim of its own success. Rising wages mean it isn’t as cheap a place to make things as it once was.

China has been a Communist nation since 1949, when Mao Zedong’s forces won a civil war and founded the People’s Republic of China. By the time Mao died in 1976, China’s economy—in which the state owned almost all businesses—lay in ruins. His successor, Deng Xiaoping, introduced free-market reforms in 1978 that allowed private business and foreign investment. That set off decades of explosive growth.

But at the same time, China has remained an authoritarian one-party state with tight control over political power and strict limits on individual rights. In fact, under President Xi Jinping in the past decade, China’s Communist Party government has increasingly cracked down on all forms of dissent. These days, facial recognition cameras and other digital tracking mechanisms spy on citizens everywhere, allowing officials to closely monitor the Chinese people.

China has been a Communist nation since 1949, when Mao Zedong’s forces won a civil war. The People’s Republic of China was founded. By the time Mao died in 1976, China’s economy lay in ruins. The state owned almost all businesses. His successor, Deng Xiaoping, introduced free-market reforms in 1978. This allowed private business and foreign investment. These investments set off decades of explosive growth.

But at the same time, China has remained an authoritarian one-party state. It has tight control over political power. There are strict limits on individual rights. In fact, under President Xi Jinping in the past decade, China’s Communist Party government has increasingly cracked down on all forms of dissent. These days, facial recognition cameras and other digital tracking mechanisms are everywhere. This allows officials to closely monitor the Chinese people.

That makes today’s China something of a hybrid: “It’s some version of an authoritarian capitalist system,” says Ma, of the Paulson Institute.

The conventional wisdom has long held that people earning middle-class wages and participating in a free-market economy will demand and eventually get political freedoms. But that’s not happening in China.

“We underestimated the degree to which China is a Communist country,” Yu says, “and we overestimated China’s willingness to reform.”

That makes today’s China something of a hybrid. “It’s some version of an authoritarian capitalist system,” says Ma of the Paulson Institute.

The conventional wisdom has long held that people earning middle-class wages and participating in a free-market economy will demand and eventually get political freedoms. But that’s not happening in China.

“We underestimated the degree to which China is a Communist country,” Yu says, “and we overestimated China’s willingness to reform.”

That depends on what you mean by freedom. Chinese people have a lot of freedom to travel around the country, to leave China to study abroad or go on vacation, and to choose a career and whom to marry.

“But civil and political rights in China are hard to come by,” says Kennedy of the Center for Strategic & International Studies. “There are no free and fair elections for national or local leaders. China doesn’t have freedom of religion. And there’s not access to unvarnished information from the internet because of the Great Firewall.”

That depends on what you mean by freedom. Chinese people have a lot of freedom to travel around the country and to leave China to study abroad or go on vacation. They can choose a career or whom to marry.

“But civil and political rights in China are hard to come by,” says Kennedy of the Center for Strategic & International Studies. “There are no free and fair elections for national or local leaders. China doesn’t have freedom of religion. And there’s not access to unvarnished information from the internet because of the Great Firewall.”

The Great Firewall is China’s massive internet censorship system. For the nation’s more than 1 billion internet users, access to Google, YouTube, Instagram, and most Western news outlets is blocked. The Chinese version of TikTok, which is owned by a Chinese company, is heavily censored. Government monitors and tech companies work together to scrub search results of any information they don’t want people to see and watch social media for signs of opposition.

Under Xi, the internet restrictions have gotten tighter. High-tech surveillance systems allow the government to monitor all aspects of daily life. And authorities have been cracking down on what’s permitted in terms of artistic expression.

“The scope for expressing opinion has decreased quite a lot in recent years,” Johnson says. “It used to be that you could debate a lot of different social policy issues. Not anymore.”

The Great Firewall is China’s massive internet censorship system. For the nation’s more than 1 billion internet users, access to most Western news outlets is blocked. This includes access to Google, YouTube, and Instagram. The Chinese version of TikTok, which is owned by a Chinese company, is heavily censored. Government monitors and tech companies work together to scrub search results of any information they don’t want people to see. They watch social media for signs of opposition.

Under Xi, the internet restrictions have gotten tighter. High-tech surveillance systems allow the government to monitor all aspects of daily life. Authorities have been cracking down on what’s permitted in terms of artistic expression.

“The scope for expressing opinion has decreased quite a lot in recent years,” Johnson says. “It used to be that you could debate a lot of different social policy issues. Not anymore.”

After China began reforming its economy, Chinese leaders forged strong economic and educational ties with the U.S. throughout the 1980s, ’90s, and 2000s. But when Xi became president in 2012, he changed course, and mistrust has grown ever since.

Recent moves have exacerbated the problem. China’s crackdown on democratic freedom in Hong Kong, its repression of the Muslim Uighur minority in Xinjiang Province, its aggressive moves toward Taiwan, and Xi’s steps toward making himself president for life have all combined to make U.S. officials increasingly suspicious of China.

At the same time, Chinese officials seem more convinced that U.S. policymakers want to prevent China’s rise or even oust its Communist leadership.

“China thinks the U.S. has neither the sincerity nor the ability to improve relations,” says Wu Xinbo, dean of international studies at Fudan University in Shanghai.

All this adds up to a lot of reasons to be concerned.

“You hear increasingly a sense of inevitability about conflict,” says Kennedy. “But I think we’ve got lots of smart people in both places. You can see these two trains coming down the tracks toward each other pretty far in advance, so we should be able to figure out how to build additional tracks to accommodate both trains.”

After China began reforming its economy, Chinese leaders forged strong economic and educational ties with the U.S. But when Xi became president in 2012, he changed course. Mistrust has grown ever since.

Recent moves have exacerbated the problem. These include China’s crackdown on democratic freedom in Hong Kong, its repression of the Muslim Uighur minority in Xinjiang Province, and its aggressive moves toward Taiwan. Xi’s steps toward making himself president for life combined with the recent moves have made U.S. officials increasingly suspicious of China.

At the same time, Chinese officials seem more convinced that U.S. policymakers want to prevent China’s rise or even oust its Communist leadership.

“China thinks the U.S. has neither the sincerity nor the ability to improve relations,” says Wu Xinbo, dean of international studies at Fudan University in Shanghai.

All this adds up to a lot of reasons to be concerned.

“You hear increasingly a sense of inevitability about conflict,” says Kennedy. “But I think we’ve got lots of smart people in both places. You can see these two trains coming down the tracks toward each other pretty far in advance, so we should be able to figure out how to build additional tracks to accommodate both trains.”

With reporting by Thomas L. Friedman of The New York Times.

With reporting by Thomas L. Friedman of The New York Times.