This cartoon, posted by artist Luo Jie (罗杰) to his QQ comic blog on August 25, 2010, expresses the sense of foreboding many Chinese felt for their own economy and future even as international news trumpeted China’s overtaking of Japan as the world’s second-largest economy. Words to the left of the weightlifter’s head say, “GDP ranked number two in the world.” The words on the broken shadow barbell read, “environmental pollution” and “[problems in] economic structure.”