Ok, to no surprise at all China has officially been declared the 2nd largest economy in the world, now what?
Since China is a socialist country, once they claim the number one spot do you think that will be the turning point and we can expect to see a chain reaction with other super power countries? I can't even imagine what this means to those of us who have lived in a democratic capitalist country.
I have very little knowledge about China, but was always taught in high school about this day coming soon and look we are almost there. I am looking for answers to help me understand what exactly is going on.
Wilderness2010-08-17T03:53:24Z
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China is NOT a socialist country, they operate on a free market and trade freely that is why the country delivers such a great economic growth. However, they are communist by name, and the country is not a democracy, no humans rights are protects and that is why the government can impose one child policy to reduce the population growth unlike India. The government can basically mend things their own way, for example..they don't float their exchange rate, they keep the value of their currency low which makes it cheap to import from China, because of these large number of imports coming from China..the economy is doing well. Another thing is cheap labor, the workers are exploited and produce more than Americans and at the same time they earn less, so business expenditure declines.
The thing to think about is, is this growth sustainable? I keep on saying this ALL the time to everyone who is just obsessed with China...look, they have a one-child policy which means they will have a greater aged population, it is the young adults and middle aged who work, not the elderly. Therefore the economy won't be producing as much and a large proportion of the population will be consuming pension benefits.
To answer your real question, the major countries such USA are putting immense pressure on China to float their currency, and they are now at the stage where they actually considering it. After the global financial crisis, the world has recognized that hardcore capitalism is a failure and it's essential regulate the economy..but regulation doesn't mean socialism. In my opinion, socialism will never happen..yes maybe some elements of socialism may be used in economic systems around the world, but seriously don't expect socialist eco systems. They operate on a free market system anyway.
China having power is NOT a good thing, they are a shifty bunch. Everyone knows how they are funding Maoists and helping Pakistan with nuclear equipment because they fear India. They are also causing a lot of tension at the border, already they have taken some land in Sikkim. They have had a problem with India since we gave refuse to Dalai Lama and they have even exported drugs to Nigeria with "Made in India" labels.
EDIT ecclesiastes32 is talking about cheap labour, just have a think about it...because the economy is doing well now, wages will rise and all these manufacturing departments of businesses are not going to enjoy that because production costs of businesses will increase, then you'll see all these factories shift to African countries. Another place where China will suffer, they are so dependent on their cheap manufacturing. Unless, the government doesn't allow wages to rise, which will cause other problems for the country.
They are heavily dependent on foreign direct investment as well. Another factor that assures their growth isn't sustainable.
"but was always taught in high school about this day coming soon and look we are almost there. "
What do you mean by that? Since you don't know a lot about China, perhaps it would behoove you to do some research, and then we can provide input that is based in knowledge, rather than ignorance.
Although the second biggest economy, it is still a very poor country. Many people, conservatives mostly, mentioned frequently about the amount of US debt that China has. Most of that debt was accumulated when the conservatives were in power in the US, but let's move on. China has somewhat less than $700B in US debt. However, China needs to spend 10 times that to improve their social security programs. They need to spend the same amount on improving its infrastructure, its medical care, its schooling...and on and on.
You can try to pinhole the economic and political systems as you please (socialist, communist, capitalist, marxist), but that doesn't clear up the picture. It can make you feel better about where you live but, guess what, China doesn't care.
Now there are going to be billions of Chinese committing suicide because they are not at the number 1 spot now ! :-) oh....they have lost face !!
Well..it is time for America to introduce child labour ! Why don't they learn from China ?
And...China is crying by the way because all the most clever people go to the West so..there is hope ! (well that is what they say !) and looking around me I could swear there are more Chinese people here than in China now :-)
So there will be China...and lots of mini Chinatowns everywhere else lol !
Hey..at least China has not lost face on one subject : Top number 1 for polluting the planet ! Now that is something to be proud of !
:-)
It is only the largest economy for ...10 people ?
The rest still leave in absolute dreary conditions. No human rights, forced out of their homes to make way for factories, nowhere to go but to that said factory to work for minimal wages..if they have the cheek to ask to be paid of course.
And the government is still looking for the aids and money which were supposed to go to the poor survivors of the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan ! What ? They lost the codes of their own safes that is why !
PS: China is not a socialist country anymore !
At least they mind their own business and they don't spend their money going into wars to find some invisible weapons of mass destruction and generally either bullying the world to think like they do or bend over backward to some for political correctness's sake.
PS: utilise the country's resources ?? yes ..sure ! chopping trees to make disposable chopsticks..
And now they have landslides all over......because of the lack of trees..come on !
I'm not surprised to learn that China has officially been declared the 2nd largest economy in the world. I really admire them. 2-3 decades back China was poorer than India, and now it is the world's 2nd largest economy. Due to lack of work in their country, many Chinese came to India to earn something; they set up fastfood centers and beauty parlours. But now we see China has become an almost fully developed nation. The majority of their population has become urban. We see Shanghai and Beijing as some of the biggest megacities in the world.
The one-child policy was successfully implemented. The ride-bicycle policy was successfully implemented. They rode only bicycles for one or two years in some cities. All such kind of rules were made compulsory to be followed.
And now, wow, we see how beautiful their cities are, how advanced they have become, and what their military power is. And frankly speaking, India does not have the power to fight the Chinese for those disputed areas in Sikkim, Assam or Kashmir.
The Chinese have forayed into every field. They manufacture anything and everything. And yes, we buy them, and inturn help their economy, because their goods are sold very cheap compared to those manufactured in our places. In India, we find Chinese made mobiles being sold in almost every mobile shop in the country in each and every town. You see no single difference between an original Nokia mobile and a Chinese fake of the same model. If the original costs Rs.16,000 the fake costs Rs.2000. Not only mobiles, most of the items we buy are Chinese made. We see the 'Made in China' tags everywhere in the world. I donno how but they have the capability to manufacture anything for a very cheap price but they do it. So they sell cheap. So people buy cheap.
90% of the vuvuzelas sold in South Africa for the World Cup were 'Made in China'.
http://worldnewsnetworks.blogspot.com/ China has overtaken Japan to become the world's second-largest economy, the fruit of three decades of rapid growth that has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.Depending on how fast its exchange rate rises, China is on course to overtake the United States and vault into the No.1 spot sometime around 2025, according to projections by the World Bank, Goldman Sachs and others.
China came close to surpassing Japan in 2009 and the disclosure by a senior official that it had now done so comes as no surprise. Indeed, Yi Gang, China's chief currency regulator, mentioned the milestone in passing in remarks published on Friday.
"China, in fact, is now already the world's second-largest economy," he said in an interview with China Reform magazine posted on the website (www.safe.gov.cn) of his agency, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.