| Summary/Abstract |
The beverage and cultural icon known as Coca-Cola returned to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in January 1979. The month prior, the Coca-Cola Company and the Chinese government had brokered a bombshell agreement, which ended a thirty-year ban on the beverage on the Chinese mainland.1 Bringing the world’s most popular soft drink back to the world’s most populous country, the deal appeared telling of the positive state of Sino-American relations and China’s political and economic trajectory.2 The two countries had just formally established diplomatic relations and were intent on further consolidating ties, while Deng Xiaoping, having risen to preeminence within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), was rolling out much needed reforms for his country’s economy.
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