China Global Trade Report - Essay Example

In terms of the Chinese market there are a number of overarching indicators. Currently the Chinese’ gross domestic product (GDP) is a reported $6.09 trillion making it the world’s second largest gross domestic product. In terms of growth rate, China demonstrated a 2.3% growth rate throughout 2011. China has a strong amount of exports, particularly to the United States where a strong number of production plants have implemented Chinese low-cost labor and manufacturing for item production ("Starmass").

Chinese exports include most prominently electrical machinery and equipment, followed by power generation equipment, apparel, toys, games, and sports equipment, furniture, and footwear ("Starmass"). In terms of goods imported into China, the major import items are machinery and transport equipment, these and then followed by non-edible raw materials, mineral and fuel materials, and finally chemical products ("Starmass"). There are a number of Chinese regulatory bodies that have control over internal and external economic elements.

In these regards, the most prominent Chinese regulatory bodies include the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).  In addition to these aspects, there are a number of more specific trade indicators. One of the most prominent among these concerns are Chinese workforce numbers. The staggering Chinese population, currently over a billion citizens, contains equally staggering workforce figures. In these regards, the total number of the population that is economically active has been placed at 760,800,000.

In terms of a specific workforce figure, the percentage has been placed at 58.9%; this number jumps to 77.7% when only individuals over age 15 are considered. With the expansive size of Chinese society virtually all forms of services and goods are produced within this country (Yifu). Chinese pillar industries continue to remain energy and heavy industries; these elements are aided by China’s relatively lax environmental regulations relative to Western industrialized countries. Notably, China continues to lag behind many Western countries in production of high technology innovative goods.

Still, it’s notable that China has and continues to experience staggering economic growth. In terms of continued growth, the Chinese economy is estimated to grow at a 9.5% rate between 2011 and 2015 (Yifu). In terms of specific indexical growth indicators, it was recently demonstrated that China has a very high 3G growth rating (Yifu). There are still other prominent global trade measures that must be considered in terms of macroeconomic and cultural concerns. Some of the most notable of these concerns are the shifting nature of Chinese trade relations.

Within this context of understanding it’s noted that recent years have witnessed an increasingly liberalization in trade matters, with regulatory bodies increasingly calling for free trade areas. Recent years have seen the increasing establishment of trade pacts, for instance the 2005 East Asian Summit established relations with India, Australia, and New Zealand (Yifu). Recently the United States has eased trade restrictions with the country, allowing Chinese exports in at the same rate as other countries.

China’s joining of the World Trade Organization (WTO) also points towards positive future global trade measures. Still, Chinese is noted to rank 29th in the Global Competitiveness Index and 135th among 179