Over 40 years China has been transformed out of all recognition, the scale of its growth and the sheer speed of change has been astonishing. The country has seen the largest lifting of people out of poverty that has ever taken place in human history, and today China is a global force, predicted to become the world’s biggest economy in a couple of decades. So how did an impoverished and backward communist country become an engine of global capitalism? What actually happened 40 years ago to set China on the road to prosperity? China’s decision to open up to the world 40 years ago has been called ‘the most important event of modern world history’, and it is one in which America played a crucial role. Today China is a major player, flexing its muscles on the global stage. In this film, Michael Wood tracks the beginning of their meteoric rise, looks at the extraordinary scale of present day developments and asks both Chinese and US experts for clues to the future.