As some Western media continue to talk down China, prominent Singaporean scholar Kishore Mahbubani offers a starkly different assessment. In his view, China's phase of slower growth is not a sign of decline, but a natural part of the development cycle. What truly shapes the future is the long-term trajectory. Hardly any country has invested as consistently and on such a large scale in the industries of the future as China. For this reason, Mahbubani remains firmly optimistic about China's prospects. China has not only achieved large-scale poverty reduction, but has also provided governance experience that deserves serious study worldwide. To understand China, Western societies need not prejudice or speculation, but to step into China and witness its real development firsthand.

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