Introduction

Abstract

In the 19th century, Napoleon Bonaparte predicted "When China awakens, it will astonish the world." China's recent stirring from its centuries-old slumber has far-reaching implications for international business and politics, as well as for science and technology development.For much of the last two millennia, China was one of the world's greatest economies and most technologically advanced societies. In recent centuries, however, the Middle Kingdom stagnated as other parts of the world experienced the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution, and the emergence of computer-based IT. Since paramount leader Deng Xiaoping opened China's door to the outside world in 1979, an infusion of market economics, foreign capital, and modern technology has been restoring its historical prominence [8]. From a global perspective, the country has gone from near irrelevance during the 1960s to being quaint, exotic, and inscrutable before emerging as a heavyweight. The Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 will celebrate the country's latest rise and represent an important milestone in its transformation from isolated Maoist state to full-fledged member of the international community.