In China’s “median city” people are surprisingly risk-averse
Our columnist travels there to ask ordinary people two mega-questions
OVER RECENT decades, individual Chinese dreams reshaped the world. The largest manufacturing power on Earth emerged, in part, because hundreds of millions of rural men and women left behind families and villages to toil in coastal boomtowns. Behind dry graphs showing steep growth rates lurked stories of the human heart. Generations raised amid Maoist conformity reinvented themselves as entrepreneurs and risk-takers.
Explore more
This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Risk-averse China”
From the August 24th 2024 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionDiscover more
Trump, trade and feeding China’s pigs
As a trade war looms, China looks to cut its reliance on America
Helping America’s hawks get inside the head of Xi Jinping
China’s leader is a risk-taker. How far will he go in confronting America?
Snuffing out the flame of freedom in Hong Kong
Dozens of pro-democracy activists are thrown into jail for up to a decade
China’s greatest dumpling run
A big gathering of young cyclists is ended by officials
A spate of horrific car-rammings shakes China
They are known as “revenge on society” attacks
Mega-polluter China believes it is a climate saviour
It accounts for almost 40% of global investment in clean energy
