A turning point in world history

A new series of short films on reform and opening-up attempt to showcase the global impact of the moment, Andrew Moody reports in London. 

Michael Wood believes China's reform and opening-up is an unparalleled event in human history.

The historian is the presenter of a new series of short films, The Story of China's Reform and Openingup, which have already been a social media hit and are set to be broadcast on CCTV-9 with discussions also taking place for them to be shown by the BBC and other foreign broadcasters.

"There is nothing comparable in human history (to reform and opening-up). You have only to look at the scale of what has happened in China and its impact on the rest of the world," he says.

"That is why historians feel that it is the event that has shaped the modern world as it is now starting to look."

The new series, which consists of five films each just under 15 minutes in length, covers the history of the initiative, China going global, its scientific and technological development, its environmental challenges and China's future.

Wood, who was speaking in the British Library in London with the director of the series, Rebecca Dobbs, who is also his wife, says the films were the result of discussions with China Review Studio, a Beijing-based outfit that makes English-language films.

"In those discussions they wanted something specifically on the 40 years and we thought it was quite interesting," Wood says.