Written by David McDonald, Quora To make sense of China’s next decade, it is critical to grasp that there is no single driver of the nation’s future. Instead, four very different drivers are pushing the country forward at once, all powerful, and all interacting with each other in unanticipated ways. The first driver is an aspect of the country’s economy and culture that I call “ Open China. ” The emerging potential of China’s consumer markets is well known to outside producers, many of which, like General Motors, have already come to depend on these markets for their profitability. Unlike other leading economies in Asia, including Japan and South Korea, China began opening its markets to foreign companies at the very start of its economic reforms and it has opened them ever wider ever since. At the same time, the Chinese people have rapidly advanced as consumers; the wealth created by China’s growth has created a substantial middle class. Putting a precise number on t...