Well actually the growth rate has been phenomenal when one considers the starting point. I first visited Xiamen in 1982 when it was designated a special economi

Well actually the growth rate has been phenomenal when one considers the starting point. I first visited Xiamen in 1982 when it was designated a special economic zone and the changes since have been phenomenal. The rate at which workers moved from farming to industry dwarfs the comparable rate here in the US. Your adjectives of ambitious and hard working are spot on. Having 1.2 billion people has always been both China's greatest strength and it's greatest weakness. They have been poor for so long that their thirst is now unquenchable. China's growth is going to force serious changes in the US if we are to remain a competitive world player. Consider how many chinese schools teach english and how many american schools chinese. However I would argue that in software, americans have an inventiveness, I call it yankee ingenuity (mickey mouse) that is unique and is part of our culture. This is something that takes years to develop. So perhaps there's an edge we can keep but the key will be to engage and play. The chinese love doing business with americans because we are a good people. They have different notions of IP but we need to recognize that much of those are historical artifacts of western law, or as kids sharing music would say: "unsustainable business models" "Ici repose un géant endormi, laissez le dormir, car quand il s'éveillera, il étonnera le monde" -- Napolean