China’s economic Great Leap Forward stands as one of the defining moments of the closing of the 20th century. Now an economic powerhouse, China and its $3.7 trillion in foreign exchange reserves are viewed by some with fear and trepidation. Others see it as an immense opportunity to create more widely shared prosperity, bring people closer together and remove barriers in the way of understanding and peace.

I am one of the latter.

The exponential growth of the Chinese economy and the remarkable rise—creation, really—of the middle class in China is an entirely new factor. Dominic Barton, global managing director of McKinsey & Company, estimates that by 2022 China’s middle class should number over 630 million;  although astounding, this figure would still represent only 45 percent of China’s population.
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