ABSTRACT
The trade in international ideas about progress, success and prosperity increased in the 1980s as translations of foreign works, often unauthorised appeared on book shop shelves. The exchange of ideas impacts upon the transition from Made in China to Created in China. It is necessary therefore to understand how some important ideas about culture, the sovereign individual, and economics infiltrated the Chinese intellectual community. In this chapter I look at some of the key developments that have influenced the cultural economy and I tell of how some Chinese intellectuals have learned to love the market, while others, faithful to a socialist vision of collective progress, have positioned themselves as strident opponents of all things associated with consumer culture.
