“Under a regime of limited government, low taxes, and economic laissez faire, Shanghai became the most prosperous metropolis in all of Asia. The standard of living, including that of Chinese residents in the International Settlement and in surrounding Chinese-administered areas, was the highest in East Asia. It was this free market environment that created that Western-style skyline that in the 1930s was considered the Asian rival of New York. The city also became the focal point for the Chinese intellectual community as well as a Chinese cultural center – and one in which freedom of speech and press were protected for all, Westerner and Chinese alike.”
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