In addition, the book analyses the wide-ranging challenges that China's political economy faces at the start of the twenty-first century, identifying the way in which China is attempting to resolve these contradictions by building on its rich historical experience to regulate market forces in order to achieve a socially harmonious and sustainable development path. It further examines the wider context of global capitalism within which Chinese development is taking place. Capitalism is the key propulsive force in technical progress. The recent period has seen an unprecedented liberation of this force. However, this force is a two-edged sword. Alongside the unprecedented advances have arisen unprecedented challenges that threaten the very survival of the human species.