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Strategies & Market Trends : China Warehouse- More Than Crockery -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RealMuLan who wrote (769)	9/17/2003 5:31:58 PM
From: RealMuLan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6370

China Joins the Global Economy - Part One How bureaucratic barriers were breached with a policy of 'No flow, no dough' David Zweig YaleGlobal, 15 September 2003 Just over two decades ago, China was a vast, poor country whose centrally-planned economy offered its citizenry little hope for an improved standard of living. After a series of market-oriented reforms, however, many Chinese now regularly enjoy luxuries that were once reserved for the elite. In part one of a 2-part series on China's entry into the world economy, China expert David Zweig tells how local bureaucrats played a big role in bringing the country out of its isolation. Through the 1970s, Zweig says, upper-level officials in the Communist Party had a tight grasp on the Chinese economy. There was little tourism, and the country was an insignificant player in global trade. Today, tourism and transnational exchanges are booming, largely thanks to self-interested bureaucrats in towns and cities across the country. Zweig explains that significant differences in prices inside and outside China, created by decades of economic autarky and cheap labor, meant that those who controlled international trade could earn large profits. Local officials - who gradually became the gate-keepers of global commerce - therefore had a strong financial incentive to harbor close relationships with foreign investors and with China's businessmen overseas. Ironically, the very bureaucrats that made the first round of China's opening a great success now pose the greatest obstacle to further internationalization; few are willing to relinquish control, and many resist further deregulation. Thus, Zweig concludes, the WTO and the international community must work "to break the stronghold local officials have on trade policies and thus continue the opening of China." - YaleGlobal yaleglobal.yale.edu ==================== China Joins the Global Economy - Part Two China's 'software advantages' bode well for its short-term economic growth Deborah Davis YaleGlobal, 17 September 2003 In part one of this 2-part series, David Zweig explained the processes by which China joined the global economy. In part two, China scholar Deborah Davis discusses the prospects for China's continued economic growth. While incomes have improved and everyone's boat has risen, Davis says, so has the country's once-low income inequality. Increased differences in wealth, as well as concerns about the accuracy of economic data, are prompting many observers to question the stability of China's economic future. Although these concerns are valid, Davis argues, broader sociological data call for a more optimistic view, at least for the short-term. China's "human software" remains extremely impressive, Davis writes, and promises to continue to raise standards of living by increasing productivity and creating new, higher skill jobs. In particular, favorable demographic trends and substantial investment in education and health care bode particularly well for the country. So despite reasonable concerns, Davis concludes, "the core fundamentals for macro-economic growth remain strong" throughout the country. YaleGlobal yaleglobal.yale.edu