I traveled to China July 11-16 to deliver a lecture at a congress of econometrics at Jilin University. It was my first visit to China in three years.
In the past three years there have been wild swings in the tone of Japanese media reports on China. Early reports found fault with China's political and economic systems and raised doubts about the country's future. Some were downright hostile to China. Recently, however, media have been sounding alarms over the alleged threat posed by China's growing economic power.
It is not easy to assess China's potential with its socialist market economy, an apparently contradictory system, but let me offer my opinion on the basis of my observations during the visit.