Not an end, but a starting point

Selfless dedication

Although COVID-19 has buffeted China's society and economy, Perry said, the memory of suffering, trust in the country and the spirit of selfless dedication motivate Chinese people to overcome all challenges no matter how difficult the situation is.

"We have to remember that in dealing with the epidemic China was able to mobilize 40,000 doctors and nurses from all over China in a few days to fly to Wuhan in the face of grave risk to themselves.

"And I saw interviews with many of them. They were so excited to have the opportunity to be at the front line of a challenge like that. I'm sure that they left exhausted and drained but exhilarated by knowing what they have been able to contribute."

In April, the World Bank said China had lifted 850 million people, about 70 percent of the world's poor, out of poverty since reform and opening-up began in the late 1970s.

"It was an incredible thing to absorb," Perry said. "It took me quite a long time to realize that the core of what China was doing in reform and opening-up was to enable China to be able to feed its people."

For the past 70 years, China has been enabling the forces of production to meet the needs of the people, which is the "primary contradiction" China has faced domestically.

In the early 1950s, Perry's father, Jack Perry, founder of the London Export Corporation, led 48 British business people to Beijing and helped build one of the earliest trade relationships between China and the West.