Transition to a Market Economy in China - Assignment Example

Task China’s economic geography is changing. The transition to a market economy The spectacular rise of China has been received by serious analysts who have indicated that the country is changing to a market economy. This rise of China also indicates the importance of geographical advantage that countries like America envy (Blij 115). Thus, China is thriving where geography matters a lot. In spite of globalization and China’s security as well as its global competition, geography has been the main reason behind its economic success. Economic developments in the country over time have resulted in a new economic geography that is changing it to an economic market (Zhang et al. 244). It is, therefore, vital to find out how China has been able to change its economic geography to become a global economic market. The emergence of China and its transformation has challenged many geographers. They are constantly seeking to find out the forces behind Chinas transformation (Williamson 54). Other questions that intrigue economic geographers are how transition and reforms shape regions and if the diverse regions of this country are getting equal benefits from this economic transition. Regional inequality in China Regional inequality is an important element in economic geography as it draws attention of the proponents of convergence and divergence economies (Zhang 247). On the other hand, it has been important to socialist countries like China that have gone through numerous transitions and reforms. China’s economic success is much attributed to its diversity in terms of size, identity and history. One of the pioneers in Chinas economic policies is Mao, who developed a unique regional policy for the country (Williamson 53). While emerging as an economic giant, China had to deal with the problem of regional inequality. The citizens were much worried of social stability and equity that made Chinese leaders fully to commit themselves to ensuring that they accelerate economic growth, especially in the most interior provinces (Xu and Tan 68). Thus, the Chinese government has increased infrastructure budgets for poorer provinces almost every year. Besides, the country’s growth after 1978 indicated an existing gap between income and growth rates in the coastal and inland provinces. The divergent in China’s regional income finds its root from preferential policies (Fan and 299). Though the inland provinces did not benefit much from these policies, China’s economy depends on the coastal towns. By focusing on coastal towns, this country has been able to engage in international trades thus transforming it into a market economy. Importance of geography Geographical location of China has been favorable for economic activities (Williamson 53). Within the global context, a nation’s wealth is determined by its geographical advantage. However, the geographical advantage has two approaches (Bao et al. 78). The first approach concerns different ecological conditions which compare temperate and tropical zones. The second thought holds that regions have different abilities in conducting international trade thus comparing the coast and the interior of the country. This is evident in China. The interior provinces were marginalized in the past decades, but the country formulated policies aimed at improving these regions. Thus, China was able to realize that for it to develop; the interior provinces, though having low economic potentials had to be improved as well (Xu and Tan 73). On the other hand, focusing on coastal provinces has enabled China to attract international trade. The combination of interior and coastal development has helped China achieve economic prosperity. Regional economic policies in China Chinas policies for regional development have also changed its economic geography. The effect of regional policies in China can be traced back to the Marxist period; common ownership was adopted and the Stalinist policies that made the country plan for its resource allocation and suppress light industries to favor the development of the heavy industries (Clem 183). Thus, the country was able to plan its resource allocation within its constraints. On the other hand, China had locked itself from association with capitalist countries. This means that the country was busy building and transforming its economic geography. The modern Chinese leaders have borrowed the same ideologies. In the 19th century, Mao made a big contribution in the country’s economic policymaking by introducing regional economic self-sufficiency policy (Dillon 81). In this case, the region should be able to sustain itself both in food production and industrial goods. This principle is the backbone of Chinas success. State policies also have an influence on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). In China, FDI is mainly concentrated in its coastal region as stipulated by the country’s state economic policy. This policy was adopted in the industrial and postindustrial era (Clem 183). For instance, when China was fighting the world wars, most of its economic potential was at its coastal region. However, this has been a continuous trend in the country as most of the country’s FDI is found in its coastal regions. Thus, agglomeration of economic activities at the coastal strip has built up an economic region where China is opened to the other parts of the world (Fan and Scott 304). By establishing coastal development zones or economic, geographic locations, the state is making an effort of utilizing external resources and preparing the country for global competition. Indeed the state has succeeded as China is now a centre of attraction for inward foreign direct investment. Within a short time in history, the world is witnessing a transformation in the Chinese economy has an economic market on its own. China’s urban development plan Most of the Chinese towns are located at the coastal lines, geographical location that has enabled it influence international trade (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development 362). However, the planning of this geographical location is the main reason for its economic transition. Chinese government has been able to knit various cities to form one huge megapolitan area, especially between Hong Kong and (Macau and Scott 310). This has been one of the economic, geographical advantages of China. The geographical location hosts 50 million people and stretches towards the American economic market. The government is planning this area as an economic merger with high infrastructure development. This plan is not only restricted to highly urbanized areas, but the Chinese government is considering clustering the entire country. With a good urban development plan, China is creating economic geographies that have been able to steer it into a global economic market (Clem 183). Economic transition in the country is also affecting settlements in the Asian country. In economic geography, urban settlements are considered to as the main centers for economic development (Lu 112). However, China is moving away from the usual urban settlements and forming megacities. Development of megacity is thus a characteristic of the economic geography of China. In this case, the country has been driven by its desire to reach out to its large and reliable domestic labour market. Megacities are always criticized for pollution and congestion, but development in the transportation technology has been able to deal with such social problems (Mount 162). Development of this economic geography enabled China to introduce bullet trains for connecting megacities like Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou. This development has also had an overall effect on Chinas economic market by enabling it to transform into an economic market. In summary, China has been able to transform into a global economic market due to its changing economic geography. However, the changes in its economy have been attributed to many factors. Firstly, regional inequality is the cause of this transition as the country is divided into the interior and coastal development zones. Other factors include geographical size, regional economic policies and its urban development plan. Task 2: explain why the regime in China in the period after 1978 has placed great emphasis on developing and improving the country’s infrastructure After Mao’s regime Deng Xiaoping took to put China in the direction of the market economy. At this time in Chinas history, there was a need to eye on developing and improving its infrastructure owing to the unpopular Cultural Revolution in the previous regime (Williamson 54). This revolution had weakened China’s economy, thus there was a need to revamp the economic sector. On the other hand, the regime after 1978 was also committed to developing the country’s infrastructure due to the economic developments of the neighboring countries such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore, known as four Tigers (Clem 185). In the long run, the Chinese government realized that there it was better to work towards achieving a market economy as opposed to the planned economy from the previous regime. Thus, the country embarked on developing its infrastructure as a way of working towards market economy goal. Therefore, the Chinese were ready to support any economic development that would steer them into the global success being enjoyed by its neighboring countries and the western block. There was also a need to reintegrate Chinas economy in a global context. The regime before 1978 had only focused on building the countrys economy at regional level (United States Congress Joint Economic Committee 241). However, by 1978, new concepts like globalization were coming in, and Deng had changed China economic vision to a global context (Clem 188). Thus, its economy and infrastructure had to be developed to aid in the modernization that would enable it maximize gains from the expanding global trade. The regime eventually separated the country’s economy from governance thus it resembled an economic market. Task 3 what basic geographical factors make China’s natural environment so variable. Design answer as a systematic and concentrated setup where you reply thus task 500words Chinas natural environment has diverse climates, biomass and geologies (Bao et al. 85). However, there are certain geographical factors that make this natural environment as variable as possible. Firstly, the geographical location of the country enables it to have diverse natural environments (Williamson 53). China is surrounded by the Indian Ocean and most of its economic activities are located in the coastal regions. This geographical location enables China to have both terrestrial and aquatic natural environments. In its interior, there exists a tropical climate that harbors terrestrial wildlife. This ecosystem provides China with the necessary natural resources for its economic development. On the other hand, its geographical location also gives it a bigger share of the marine ecosystem especially the Indian Ocean. The Ocean provides marine ecosystem as a natural environment. The proximity to the Indian Ocean is also a natural harbor used for shipping activities. In this case, geographical location provides China with a wider variety of natural environments for developing its economic infrastructures (Mount 154). Diverse climates and landforms are the other reasons as to why China has a variable natural environment. The countrys mainland is big with a varying topography. China has the highest geographical location in Mount Everest with lowest plain land seen in the Turfam Depression (Williamson 54). This variation from the highest to the lowland already provides the country with varied natural ecosystems. Chinas geographical orientation ranges from the mountainous to terrestrial ecosystems and eventually marine ecosystem of the coastal regions. This varied geographical orientation has resulted in various natural environments like plateaus, basins and plains. Thus, the country has been divided into three regions, namely, Eastern plains, Northwestern desert basins and Southwestern Mountains (Mount 157). Climatic elements like monsoon winds also play a role in the Chinas variable natural environment. These winds are, as a result, of the variation in heat-absorbing capacity between the Ocean and the Continent that has been the dominant characteristic of China’s climate (Mount 157). On the other hand, the country experiences moist seasonal air movements during the summer and winter periods. Most importantly, monsoon winds are accountable for the timely rainy season in the country and are also responsible for the reliable rainfall throughout China. Other geographical factors that have led to the variation in the country’s natural environment include differences in longitude, latitude and altitude (Williamson 54). These differences account for the variations in the country’s temperature and precipitation. Thus, China has a complex climate that allows for the development of different natural ecosystems. In this case, the variation in topography and climate conditions divides China into the Eastern region with fertile lowlands, especially rolling plains of the Manchuria that is its most agricultural potential region (Blij et al. 118). Besides, Northwestern part of China has low deserts that are surrounded by its high mountains. Southwestern parts are the upward terrain slopes that shelters Pearl River Delta region and Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau (Yeung 245). The geographical differences in China’s topography lead to a variation in both temperature and precipitation, thus explaining its varied natural environments. Task 4 river flow and embankments Figure: floods and embankments The flow of rivers in the alluvial plains is always characterized by floods. However, the effect of floods will solely depend on the type of riverbed under which water is flowing (Ghosh 288). In the figure above, the first picture shows how a river with a normal bed flows. In this case, the river has its own natural embankment that contains the flood. In flood prone areas, rivers always flow through their natural pathways. If the flow does not affect the surrounding environment, then it is usually left to flow. However, the flow of rivers in alluvial plains that have a human settlement require embankments so as to contain water to reduce its adverse effects on the flood prone communities. Such cases have been reported in extremely low-lying areas of China and Indonesia. Nonetheless, human beings have always devised ways to contain floods in these areas. One of the ways of containing foods is by building levees (Ghosh 289). They are always built in areas where river flow is exposing communities to repeated effects of floods. This is because it would be utterly unrealistic if the community is to be relocated to higher grounds. Thus, levees are useful in minimizing moderate floods. When rivers are flowing with moderate speed and quantity, developing embankments in form of levees contain water and reduces effects of floods. Levees are less permeable preferable clay, and the figure above shows its wide base and narrow top (Micahel 24). To a moderate extent, they prevent rivers and oceans from washing the lowlands. To some extent, levees may be limited to their functions as embankment against raging floods (Micahel 31). This is because rivers may sometimes burst their banks, thus washing away its surrounding. In most cases, the river bank is always its natural embankment against floods. However, in extreme situations like over-flooding; even the natural containment cannot prevent it from bursting. This brings into question the effectiveness of levees. It commonly agrees that levees have a moderating effect on flooding, but they are only limited in their functions. In the alluvial plains, the soils are permeable and thus easily absorb water that soaks them up (Gosh 288). When floods persist, levees may be soaked up in the water and eaten away by the floods. The impact or outcome is as seen in the figure above where one side of the levee has been soaked up to allow water to overflow. It is also essential considering the characteristic of water flow in these lowlands so as to know on how levees are soaked away. In these alluvial soils, capillarity is much higher, and when the ground is exposed to water for a longer time, it disintegrates and get washed away (Michael 27). This characteristic flow of water in the alluvial plains has made it difficult to build artificial embankments like levees since they risk being washed away in large floods and exposing the surrounding community to imminent danger. Therefore, the rivers natural embankment like its bank may be useful in continuing floods, but in extreme situations; artificial embankments can be used to provide a temporary solution (Pradeep et al. 240). Task 5: explain why the total population of China continued to increase while the one-child policy was in practice. Despite the enactment of one child policy, China is still experiencing a population boom. One of the key reasons for this population boom is an improvement in the country’s living standards (Dillon 81). When standards of living are improved, it amounts to increased life expectancy. Therefore, amidst the policy, the Chinese have been able to work hard to improve their standards of living thus maintaining and managing their swelling population. Between the year 1950 and earlier parts of the 1970s, Chinese life expectancy had increased by an average 1.5 each and every year (Williamson 53). This meant that life expectancy was improved for those between 40 and 70 years old. On the other hand, improved standards of living can also be attributed to better health care that decreased the country’s mortality rates (Deaton 114). Thus, cases like infant mortality rate reduced and many new born Chinese have greater chances of surviving to later life stages. Improved life standards coupled with better health care led to the population explosion starting from the mid-twentieth century. The Chinese government announced crucial health care policies in the year 1997 which were aimed at reforming the country’s healthcare sector (Williamson 54). The long term objective of such policies was to ensure each citizen in the country was entitled to protection of his or her basic health. This also covered the rural population that was in dire need of health cover and assurance. Thus, more peasant farmers were mobilized to participate in the medical covers. Besides, the government also introduced medical cover for the urban employees and by 2001, around 76.9 M employees were participating in health insurance programs (Deaton 116). In addition, medical services were free and covered more than 100 million of Chinas population in the urban regions. Nonetheless, the government introduced programs as disease control and prevention, development of numerous health clinics and health insurance services. All these healthcare developments improved health wellbeing of the citizens that explain Chinas population growth despite the one-child policy. The other reason behind China’s population growth could be attributed to a phenomenon known as population momentum effect (Williamson 54). The policy developers did not expect to slash China’s population immediately. They had in mind that children born before this policy would grow to their reproductive ages. The effect of population momentum means that the rate at which younger generation reproduce surpasses the rate at which elderly population dies off. The youthful generation has increased in China due to the population momentum effect that finds its origin from the 20th century (Deaton 117). On the other hand, the population momentum, influence on China’s population can also be explained by looking at the effectiveness of one child policy after its enactment. When the policy was developed, some children were already born. However, China boasts of long life expectancy, therefore, a bigger percentage of this population survived to its reproductive age. In return, they were able to bear kids thus adding to the overall population of the country. Of course, the policy developers never anticipated this residual effect, though it is the main reason as to why the government is still dealing with the problem of the population boom. 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