China at the crossroads

Purpose - China has become a most dominant player in the global economy with immense political repercussions, for instance in Africa. The extremely rapid Chinese economic transformation has been accomplished through strong globalisation with, for example, entrance into the WTO framework. Now it faces the challenges of accepting the other side of the globalisation coin, namely institutional transparency, ecological sustainability and foreign policy integration into the international community. The purpose of this paper is to explore this. Design/methodology/approach - Macro approach using country indicators on economic growth, institutional transparency, rule of law and ecology pressure. It relates these index scores to the overall social transformation of the country. Findings - China has performed well on economic globalisation but lags on political modernisation, i.e. institutional transparency as well as on ecological sustainability for a post‐modern society. Research limitations/implications - China must address the challenges of the post‐modern society with its call for transparency, sustainability and peaceful accommodation with neighbours. Social implications - Modernisation has two sides, not only economic growth. As China is set to become the world leader economically, it will embark upon the post‐modern society, with its demands for peace, rule of law and environmental protection. Originality/value - The paper puts economic globalisation against political modernisation and ecological globalisation in a clear manner for China.