Barry Naughton, the So Kwan Lok Chair of Chinese International Affairs at UC San Diego, is one of the world’s leading experts on China’s economy and its transformation over the last half century. His textbook The Chinese Economy: Transitions and Growth, has long been a must-read for students of China; more recently he has coined the term ‘Grand Steerage’ to describe how Xi Jinping’s government is trying to shape the country’s development. In this lightly edited transcript of a recent