by Cecilia Susybell Rengifo Rivas
Member of Federación de Periodistas del Perú, Perú
China, the great Asian giant, known as the most populous country and as the second largest economic power in the world, with a weather that is largely dominated by the dry season, is one of the seventeen megadiverse countries, and lies in two of the largest ecoregions: The Palearctic and Indomalayan realm (which it shares with India). If we talk about its global economy, we can say that China has the largest foreign exchange reserves in the world. Although China has one of the fastest growing GDPs, its economic growth was abruptly slowed by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, it is the world’s leading producer of cereals, rice, cotton, potatoes and tea.Also, China dominates the livestock, sheep and pig breeding, as well as global fish production, from which we can affirm that a series of plans have been launched aimed at transforming, modernizing and diversifying agriculture to increase productivity. The Asian country has become one of the preferred destinations for outsourcing to global manufacturing units due to its cheap labor market, despite rising labor costs in recent years. The country is a world leader in several manufacturing sectors such as machinery manufacturing, electronics, textile and clothing, steel and automobiles.
The Communist Party has the leadership of China and has its government headquarters in the capital, Beijing. Here I would quote Joseph Cheng, who believes that the short- term future in China is one of stability, although in a period of ten years, problems will arise as consequences of the demands that civil society is raising. He has also pointed out that, given China’s commercial interests around the world, the government’s efforts will continue to improve its international image, which is something favorable for the country. On the other hand, it is important to emphasize that the changes that have been taking place in the orientation of policies and international relations have achieved that China has a participation in organizations such as the United Nations (UN), managing to play a leading role in the international community, from being a country harshly criticized by the international community to achieving economic and social changes in a relatively short period. At the same time, these changes have influenced internationally, giving it a position of leadership and prominence in the different continents where it has relations. In this way, it would strengthen its competitive position in all areas.
The principal factor that has made China a more attractive place for foreign investors is the increased trade liberalization and improvements in the business environment. This is a dark prospect for many developing countries and justifies the concern of many politicians. However, the speedy growth of Chinese exports also offers competitive opportunities. As the economy opens up to foreign products and services, other countries will benefit from their huge domestic market. China will become an increasingly stronger international competitor with a broader range of products, from simple labor-intensive manufactured products to complex products.
I can finish this article by pointing that China’s development and its opening cannot be considered in isolation from the rest of the world. Otherwise, the world cannot enjoy prosperity and stability without China, due to the great economic growth that this country has had. It is important to mention that China’s international relations have not only occurred on the economic level, but also in the political, social and cultural aspects from the countries and organizations with which China has interacted.
According to many analysts, the development of Chinese society in these 35 years has been the most transversal and deepest, with more radical and faster transformations in time. Never before in history, the development of a country like China has impacted such a large portion of the world’s population.
*The views and opinions expressed in the articles are solely those of the individual authors and do not reflect the position of the Secretariat of the Belt and Road Journalist Network.