The Chinese Dream is a groundbreaking book that shows how China’s exploding middle class, with its thirst for consumerism and growing global mindset, may provide the key to creating a balancing force for the Western world.

* Deconstructs the myths about China as a superpower and global manufacturing power
* Takes us into the world of the driven middle class and shows how the not-so-private sector operates
* Provides a historical perspective on China and examines the possibility of democracy in China’s future
* Shows how a mindset that embraces the idea of unity in diversity could help solve China and America’s growing energy, health, and environmental problems

The Chinese Dream, by Forbes columnist, consultant, and China expert Helen Wang, challenges our perceptions about a country that is often incorrectly perceived as a dangerous superpower and global manufacturing power. Rather than China being viewed as a threat to Western Society, Wang postulates that the differences that exist between our two cultures are the very same attributes that could make for a dynamic partnership—each boosting the other’s economic growth and well-being, and consequently, the health of the world as a whole.

Through this eye-opening book, Wang widens our understanding of China today and shows how this new class of upwardly mobile young people, who have modern ambitions and a growing global consciousness, are beginning to drive China toward a new and different future, possibly a democratic one.

Author Helen Wang was born in China. After the last days of the Cultural Revolution, she watched the gradual opening up of China as it moved from state-owned enterprises to private businesses. The dictum of Deng Xiao Ping, “To get rich is glorious,” cleared the way for the creation of a new class of budding capitalists—China’s prosperous middle class, which is calculated to reach 600-800 million within the next decade and a half.

To gain a clear view of the impact of this new middle class, Wang provides us with interviews of executives of foreign-owned firms, connected Communist party members, rural migrants who are seeing their dreams of a better life come to fruition, and young entrepreneurs who are becoming increasingly westernized, consuming as fast as the money pours in. She also provides us with a careful analysis of the social and political forces at work in society, as she takes us on a journey to many places in China that reflect her own life-changing experiences.

In The Chinese Dream we also learn about the downside to China’s rapid economic growth and urbanization, which is creating extreme anxiety in the middle class and placing tremendous stress on the natural environment. With a poor educational system, an inadequate health care system, and widespread air and water pollution, China must now begin to turn its attention to problem-solving if its people are to survive and prosper—and this is where the United States can play a very important role.

“I believe the world’s stability and prosperity will depend on how well China and the West understand each other, trust each other, and learn from each other.” – Helen Wang