China

[chimerically]

In my political and economic development class, we've talked a lot about the powerful economic position China has right now - first-world countries depend on its cheap exports, but China itself doesn't depend much on anyone else, so they are in a position of amazing bargaining power. And they've announced the presence of a viable space program in a dramatic way, which in Cold War days would implicitly mean "... and that means our military-defense complex is burgeoning too." What will China's economic position in the world be in, say, 20 years?