Julian Gewirtz, a historian of modern China at Harvard, will discuss the roots of current Chinese ambitions to “catch up and surpass” in advanced technologies. This story is intertwined with Marxism, Maoism, and the tortuous pursuit of modernization by the Communist Party and remains connected today to every aspect of China’s development and global power. Gewirtz is the author of numerous articles on China and U.S.-China relations and two books: Unlikely Partners: Chinese Reformers, Western Economists, and the Making of Global China (Harvard University Press, 2017), which The Economist called “a gripping read, highlighting what was little short of a revolution in China’s economic thought,” and a new history of China’s 1980s forthcoming from Harvard University Press in 2021. www.juliangewirtz.com

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