Even a close China-watcher can be impressed sometimes.

Simon marvels at China's metamorphosis from an impoverished Maoist backwater to a quasi-capitalist dynamo:

China is a unique economy and in many ways justifies the oft-abused tag of "economic miracle". Some signs of this? Japan will no longer send aid to China after 2006. The World Food Program has said China no longer requires food aid and instead should become a donor to the WFP. And China has responded to worries about the lifting of textile tariffs at the end of this year with new export tariffs - self-imposed protectionism.

Consider: China now holds the second biggest foreign exchange reserves in the world. It is one of the major engines of the world economy. It has done more to alleviate poverty and hunger than any other organisation in the history of mankind. Within a generation it has gone from receiving food aid to giving it. It has gone from receiving Japanese aid to being seen as a potential threat and rival.

China has a long way to go, particularly in the political arena, but its rise has been pretty amazing indeed. Those who think that trade and economic liberalization can't do good should think again.