Shanghai

INDIA'S democratically elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi viewed Shanghai's gleaming skyscrapers at the weekend in search of pointers for his economy, but China believes its one-party state is a key reason for its growth miracle.

China began moving away from its closed-off, Maoist command economy in 1978, recruiting market forces under Deng Xiaoping's "reform and opening up" banner to power its rise to the world's No 2 economy. State infrastructure investment and favourable treatment for foreign companies have made Shanghai the planet's largest port, a gateway to the world for Chinese goods. "Shanghai is indeed among the Chinese cities with the most advanced economies," Shanghai Vice-Mayor Zhou Bo proudly told Mr Modi.