FORMER BRITISH AMBASSADOR HAILS DENG'S 'CLEAR VISION'

In 1983, when British diplomat Anthony Galsworthy returned to London for a short trip in the middle of his Beijing posting, he was keen to tell his colleagues in the government about China's economic growth and market transformations.

That was five years after China began its reform and opening-up policy, aimed at shifting the country from a planned economy to a market one. The policy unleashed the Chinese people's entrepreneurial spirit, and Galsworthy observed the changes with fascination.

But his colleagues viewed things differently. "Nobody ... was particularly interested," he said.