When the author began practicing law relating to the USSR/ Russia in 1975, the Soviet Union was significantly more advanced economically than China. This was still the situation when he began practicing law relating to China in 1983. When he retired from legal practice in 2006, however, this situation reversed. This article contains his views based on his extensive experience in both countries, on what may have contributed to this remarkable reversal in these countries’ relative economic positions during this short time period.