you make it sound like china has a choice.there a poor country because there econemy is bad,there econemy is bad becuase people are always boycotting china.They make there most of there money bye makeing cheap plastic crap to sell to our "rich" country.our country functions fine.

China is poor for many reasons: imperial china was inward looking. Unlike the talented oligarchy that orchestrated the meji restoration in Japan, the late Ching rulers thought they could ignore the barbarians until it was too late. Post Ching China was one tumultuous event after another; from warlords to war with Japan. There was never enough peace for the economy to develop and evolve. Capitalism was early stage and brutal; China (x "greater China" hong kong, taiwan, singapore) never experienced advanced capitalism with an evolved civil society. When the communists took over the first few years of unity and peace did allow the economy to develop. Then Mao began his crazy period of communization, the great leap forward (leading to millions dying of starvation), and the cultural revolution. Then came deng xiao ping. though his legacy is mixed on the political side, he did set in motion the growing prosperity we see today. hmmm, if they imported the evolving democratic traditions of taiwan, and made the dali lama their spiritual leader...