Peeking Over the Great Wall

China is one of the most geographically extraordinary countries in the world. Starting from the snow capped mountain peaks in the southwest to the golden deserts in the west and the lush green river valleys in the south. The country’s landscape is as varied as it is vast.
For over five thousand years, China has been the centre of endless creative, scientific and social innovations seen in a multitude of areas ranging from painting and sculpting to science and mathematics. While China continues to embrace and honor its long history, it has not allowed it to hamper efforts to move forward rapidly with modernization plans.

In the last twenty years, China has burst onto the world stage as a major economic and political player. With one of the fastest growing economies and largest potential consumer markets in the world, there is little doubt that the economic and political power it yields can be ignored by other world leaders.

While China’s rapid economic growth has assisted in improving the living standards of its middle class, it has brought with it several growing pains that the government continues to address. Challenges such as a widening income gap between the rich and the poor, a rapidly aging population base coupled with a shrinking workforce, a struggling healthcare program, and the government's desire to retain tight political and social control over its citizens while courting a free and open market economy.

China is a country at a crossroads. With one foot firmly planted in maintaining the government’s status quo and the other ready to leap forward and embrace economic empowerment. Its long-term progress may remain in question unless it can reconcile its past with its desired future.

China is characterized as being:

Emergent | one of the world's fastest growing economies is fueled by one of its greatest resources - labour.

Restrictive | the government continues to dictate the level of personal and social freedoms enjoyed by its citizens; i.e. a very high level of government control in all aspects of life.

Limiting | the number of foreigners receiving visas to live and work in China on a permanent basis remain low in comparison to other countries of its size; with the government closely regulating immigration.