The Rise of China - Essay Example

Research Proposal: The Rise of China Every time I hear of the United s of America being mentioned asa Super Power nation. I used to wonder what it takes for a nation to be mentioned as a super powerful nation and if there was chances for other countries to be in that state. China has in the recent times seen to be rising very fast and soon it will be a superpower nation. I happened to have heard arguments concerning the perception of the United States of America on the growth of China. They were seen to be unhappy with the fact that China was growing very fast and could soon be a superpower nation. I was interested in knowing the progress China is making that could see it become a super power nation and the reasons that were behind its progress. It was due to this reason that I carried out the internet research to get more detailed information on China’s economy and its rise that could see it become one of the super power nations. I carried out some research on the internet using Google as my search engine. I also followed the United States news about the implication of the coming power shifts and how they could have impacts on the U.S policy. During my extensive reading through the various articles and web pages, I found some names and phone numbers and so I contacted those leads in order to gather more information on the topic. The National Intelligence Council argues that by 2030 the global balance of power will shift significantly. China will likely become the largest economy in the world. In terms of military spending, Gross Domestic Product, population size and technological investment, Asia will surpass Europe and North America. The United States is expected to become first among equals rather than a superpower nation due to the coming diffusion of powers. Kira referred me to an article by Jonathan Moyer which provided some of the forecast behind the National Intelligence Council’s global trends 2030 report. Recently, Moyer spoke to U.S news of the about the implications the coming power shifts and how they could influence the US policy (Zalan) A nation may become a super powerful nation due to the rise of its economy. China economy has grown highly since Deng Xiapiong initiated economic reform in the People’s Republic of China in 1979. The initiation of this economic reform has made china become one of the world’s fastest growing economies. The rise of China economies has surprised many people and its progress seems even more praiseworthy. The article by Professor James states that the rise of modern China to become the second largest economy in the world has become possible due to the success of the Chinese communist revolution during the mid-20th century. The invading Japanese imperial army was defeated by the People’s Liberation Army. They also defeated the US imperialist-back comprador led Kuomintang “Nationalist” army. The reunification of China as an independent sovereign state was made possible as a result. The extraterritorial privileges of the Western imperialist were abolished by the Communist government. This resulted in territorial freedoms of the regional warlords and the gangsters driving away women and drug traffickers as well those who were providing services to Euro-American Empire. Economic reform on a large scale in a country as large as china was seen to be impossible. However, China has been incrementally transformed into a market economy from a control. This has been made possible due to Deng and his reform coalition. Due to the continued rise of economic aspects of China it is soon becoming a superpower nation. Due to various measures taken by the government of China, its economy has greatly risen. Colin Carter explains that today China produces 18% of the world cereal grains, fifty percent of the world’s vegetables and twenty nine percent of the world’s meat. This has made China one of the world’s largest agricultural economy and it has been ranked as the largest producer of wheat, cotton, rice, tea and fish globally. China is currently the fifth largest exporter and fourth largest importer of agricultural products in the world. Poverty level of a country can be characterized by its economy. A country is rated as a super power nation due to its economic rise, which is characterized by negligible poverty level. China has achieved low levels of poverty through the creation of employment. So many jobs have been created to provide employment to the citizens and this has ensured independence among the citizens. Employments provide a source of income to the citizens and thus improve their living standards. Poverty level in China is greatly reduced as a result of reduced overdependence on the government. Provision of employment opportunities has raised the economy of China and soon it will become a superpower nation. The article by Professor James also explains that the sustained growth of China in its manufacturing sector was as a result of highly concentrated public investments, technological innovations, high profits and protected domestic market. While foreign capital profited, this has been always within the framework of Chinese state’s priorities and regulations. The huge trade surpluses were due to the regime’s dynamic export strategy. This made China one of the World’s largest creditors. China has required huge influxes of raw materials in order to maintain its dynamic industries. As a result China has invested in large scale overseas and signed trade agreements with agro mineral export countries in Latin America and Africa. China is involved in trade with other countries. In fact, China has become the main trading partner of many countries around the world. Through freely trading with many countries around the world, China has become economically powerful. With this powerful economy China is steadily rising to become a super powerful nation. China also exports a number of items to several countries all over the world. China exports electrical and other machinery which includes data processing equipment, textiles, steel and iron, apparels, medical and optical equipment. Through the export of various products the economy of China rises higher. The rise of China to world economic power like its predecessor is mainly based on its gigantic productive capacity. Investment and trade were mainly governed by a policy of strict non-interference in the internal relations of its trading partners. China only signed lucrative contracts rather than initiating in war for oil like the US has done in the Middle East for Israel (James). China’s Growth Domestic product for the past three decades has been growing highly at a 10% rate yearly. With this high increase in China GDP yearly, it is believed that it will overtake U.S by the year 2017. With the rise in the Chinese economy, it will become one of the super power nations. According to the study taken by the World Bank, the U.S is expected to grow by only two percent in the year 2013 while China will grow four times faster than that. China has opened its product markets and upgraded its manufacturing industry. This has been done through the development of labor intensive export and encouraging flows of inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). This strategy of export-oriented growth which is fuelled by mobilization of low cost labor and domestic and foreign capital and technology has led to growth in trade. (Drysdale and Shang-Jin). Drysdale and Shang-Jin add that Foreign Direct Investment has played a big role in the economic rise of China. In the year 1990, the Foreign Direct Investment was less than $ 19 billion and by 1999 it had risen to over $ 300 billion. According to the ranking by the stock of inward FDI, China has become the leading country among the developing countries and second after the United States. Large stocks of inward FDI are held by the United States. In the United States the inward FDI is generated mainly by the existing enterprises than by newly established enterprises. In China, the FDI consists mainly of Greenfield investment. The article by Kira Zalan asserts that today, technology is a huge determinant of power. In addition to that, the people must also be well trained. China has dominated the global trade in advanced technology. China has greatly advanced in technology and produces products which are more advanced for example, elements of the electronic and computer products. China has taken over the United States in trading electronic products, making them dominate the world market. Among the electronics products supplied by China includes cell phones, television sets and many others. China has also advanced technology in sectors such as life sciences, nuclear technology, and aerospace and even biotechnology sector. However, China does not develop all these technologies on their own but they leverage what other countries built (Kira Zalan). After carrying out research from various internet sources I came to a conclusion of what was unknown to me. I realized that it is possible for any country to become a super power nation depending on its economy. I realized that a super power nation refers to the nation which is well stabilized economically and politically. Superpower nation is capable of providing support such as grants to the developing countries. It was also clear to me that due to the progress China is making in terms of economy and development it rises very fast and very soon it will become one of the super power nations. I was surprised that the United States are not happy with rising of a nation to become a superpower nation. The super power nations like the U.S. Due to lack of political and ideological strategy by China capable of protecting its overseas economic interests has made U.S and NATO to set up regimes hostile to China. For example, in Libya the U.S and NATO intervened to overthrow an independent government led by President Gadhafi. China had signed an investment and trade agreements which worth multi-billion with the President. All this was in an attempt to prevent China from benefiting. U.S is also trying to undermine Chinese overseas access to strategic resources. They back grass roots separatists and insurgents in West China, Sudan, Libya and elsewhere. The military agreement of the US to India and the installation of a pliable puppet regime in Pakistan have advanced its strategy of isolating China. European and U.S military has attacked some of the China’s trading partners to essentially reverse China’s commercial expansion. Work Cited Carter, Colin. China’s Agriculture: Achievements and Challenges. Web. 27 Feb. 2012 Drysdale, Peter & Shang-Jin, Wei. The Rise of Chinese Foreign Investment. June 11, 2012. Web. 27 February, 2012 James, Petras. “China: Rise, Fall and Re-emergence as Global Power”. Global Research. March 7, 2012. Web. 27 Feb., 2012 Zalan Kira. The Rise of China and the Global Future of the U.S. Jan. 3, 2012. Web. 27 Feb. 2012 Read More