I own and operate a business in Shanghai and yes there are plenty of restrictions here but if you play the game right and develop proper guanxi, you can be quite successful. However, most of you ignorant Americans are either jealous or just stupid and would rather bash China than actually get off your lazy fat asses and do some real research and figure out what's really going on. Americans love to thumb their nose at other emerging nations and peoples because these emerging nations are doing better than them, acting like spoiled 5-year old children who don't get their way. When China refused to take on further American debt... What did the US do? Gracefully acknowledge defeat? Nope, they whined and moaned to the WTO about the same old song and dance about currency manipulation. This despite the fact China allowed their their currency to float in a range just a few years ago. AIG, GM, etc.... Basically all the companies that are on life support in the US are making record profits here.. Geee I wonder why... Proper regulation and oversight perhaps? It's hillarious you dipships always cite "strict regulations and harsh rules". What would you have China do?? Adapt the same "wild wild west, anything goes to make a quick buck" attitude the US has had for the past 5 decades? America is over, China is now the new megapower. Get used to it or be left in the dust. Looks like most of you will eat dirt.

I liked the report overall. It's nice once in a while to see an American report that is not biased towards being negative towards China. Heh, and people say propaganda doesn't exist here.. it exists everywhere there's government, folks. The report paints a positive, hopeful vision of China's progress. And while I agree that tremendous progress has been made, I hope it does not come at the expense of so many who haven't had the joy of experiencing this "profit."I respect China for the country's determination, strength, and growth in the aftermath of a horrendous and terrible period where their leaders led them astray and to certain death. The oldest culture in the world was reduced to such a sad state, but proved resilient as they steadily regained success in the face of their mistakes/failures. Their entrepreneurs are certainly dynamic and unafraid, and it's one of the most innovative cultures in the entire world. Freedom is something that is still restricted but huge leaps of progress in that area have been made since the Cultural Revolution. Definitely this progress is something to be admired.What I am worried for and do not like is the rampant corruption, the rising of buildings each year that possess poor infrastructure (I believe Sichuan was a lesson in this as well), the increasing gap between the rising rich and the poorest of the poor, and of course issues of human rights (though this has improved). Then again, as a previous poster said, the US also has issues of human rights as displayed by Guantanamo Bay, etc. No one is really innocent on such issues. I also disagree with a previous poster that said the poor in US are better off. That's a pretty bigoted comment - there are plenty of shelters in China as well that provide food and water to the homeless. There are simply more homeless in China because there's a LOT more people. It's pretty much incomparable.

Its sad to see Beijing skyline in the opening scenes, where in the reporter proudly introduces the growth of china, but in the back drop all you see is SMOKE, DUST and POLLUTION with buildings barely visible. i do not see that as growth, but a downfall in the making.