At the end of the 18th century, Adam Smith foresaw the new economic emergence of the East and the balance of power with the West. In this masterful work that runs counter to mainstream thought, Giovanni Arrighi demonstrates how the extraordinary rise of China invites us to reread The Wealth of Nations with fresh eyes. Thanks to a collapse of American hegemony, the People's Republic could offer an alternative to 20th century capitalism. Can we trust the current Chinese model to rebuild the world economic organization? Giovanni Arrighi answers on the basis of three strong ideas: the Chinese development path is essentially different from neoliberalism; the rise of Chinese power is already changing the structure of political economy internationally; the Chinese way, contrary to the image that the Western media often give of it, could be the bearer of a more egalitarian and more ecological model of development.