China Icebergs: Forces that could reshape the world

In the 1820s the world’s economic powerhouse was China,^ at almost 20 times the size of US GDP. China’s decline began in the 19th century and lasted until the country’s economic reforms that began in 1979. Since then, China has rapidly re-emerged as a major economy and could reclaim the top spot by 2032, The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) forecasts.* TIP OF THE ICEBERG On the surface, China’s remarkable progress from near-zero share of the global GDP pie in 1980 to being t…