Malaysia's export- and resource-driven economy grew by 5.6% in 2012, but ambitious economic policies have yet to bear fruit.

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She details investment and aid in a large number of countries that have no obvious mineral or resource wealth that China would want to export.

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It expanded by 6% a year from 1952 to 2000, powered by a well-oiled export machine that catapulted the resource-poor island of 23 million people into the major leagues.

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