This event celebrates the Cato Institute’s release of China in the New Millennium: Market Reforms and Social Development. Most people realize that a market economy fosters wealth creation, but they often fail to perceive how the spontaneous market process promotes freedom. Since 1978, China’s economic liberalization and opening to the outside world have increased prosperity and advanced civil society. However, the lack of a true market economy — which depends on the rule of law and private property — means that the future of China’s market system is unclear.

Will China get caught in the trap of “market socialism,” or will it follow Hong Kong’s example and continue down the path of market liberalism? The recent publication of F.A. Hayek’s The Constitution of Liberty in China and the discussion of Hayek’s ideas by scholars at the Unirule Institute are signs that s debate on fundamental issues has now begun.