Providing an insider’s examination of China’s economic reform and its political implications, this text uses wide ranging primary materials, including interviews, surveys and author’s own recollections of Deng Xiaoping and Zhao Ziyang. It aims to shed new light on the Chinese approach to reform, including its dual goal, dynamic gradualism and reform leadership. It assesses the vast social and political changes set forth by the reform, especially multiplying socio political problems, and the international ramifications of China’s rise.