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From Dragon to Market: The Power of China in the Global Economy Introduction China’s journey from an ancient civilization symbolized by the mighty dragon—a creature of power, wisdom, and transformation in Chinese mythology—to a dominant force in the modern global marketplace represents one of the most profound economic shifts in human history. Emerging from decades of isolation and central planning, the People’s Republic of China embarked on a path of market-oriented reforms in 1978 under Deng Xiaoping, gradually opening its economy to foreign investment, establishing special economic zones, and integrating into the world trading system through its accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001. This transformation propelled China from a largely agrarian society with a nominal GDP of roughly $150 billion in the late 1970s to the world’s second-largest economy by nominal GDP at approximately $19.4 trillion in 2025, trailing only the United States while surpassing it in purchasing p...