China: alphabet in china. was there or will there ever be an alphabet-based writing system.?

The main force behind pinyin was Zhou Youguang (born 1905, turning 103 in 2008 in good health).[3] [4] Zhou Youguang was working in a New York bank when he decided to return to China to help rebuild the country after the war. He became an economics professor in Shanghai. The government igned him to help the development of a new romanisation system. The switch to language and writing largely saved him from the wrath of the Cultural Revolution of Mao Zedong.