UNVEILING CHINA: HOW TO BECOME AN ECONOMIC SUPERPOWER

Today’s turbulent global economic environment raises multiple risks for governments and remaining competitive constitutes a serious challenge for any country around the world. The impressive economic performance attained by the Chinese dragon since the late 1970s and the early 1980s has represented a significant topic in the scientific literature and a subject of growing interest for policy-makers worldwide during the past decades. In a relatively short period of time, China has become not only the second largest economy of the world but also an economic superpower that challenges the United States of America in practically all industries. This paper aims to briefly present the successful story of the Chinese economy and identify some of the key elements which have concurred to its spectacular transformation. To such end, the author employed a qualitative research method. The findings of this study show that there is a plethora of elements that have concurred to the Chinese economic success. In this respect, the catch-up industrial policy and the export-led economic model designed and implemented by the Chinese Communist Party highly contributed to this astonishing economic performance. Also, by combining socialist planning and market economy, China succeeded in becoming the second superopower of the world.