If China is capitalist, as many across the political spectrum insist, then it is surely a newer and more advanced form of the system and contradicts the Marxist claim dating back to the mid-19th century that capitalism has exhausted its historic potential. Far from having become a “fetter” on the development of new productive forces, a report in today's Asia Times asserts that the extent and speed at which China’s economy has surpassed that of the US and of the other advanced capitalist countries is greatly understated.
Though still lagging in per capita productivity, the latest World Bank statistics estimate that China’s gross domestic product measured in purchasing power parity is 125% the size of US economic output. But Han Feizi says "who are we kidding? Last year, China generated twice as much electricity as the US, produced 12.6 times as much steel and 22 times as much cement. China’s shipyards accounted for over 50% of the world’s output while US production was negligible. In 2023, China produced 30.2 million vehicles, almost three times more than the 10.6 million made in the US. On the demand side, 26 million vehicles were sold in China last year, 68% more than the 15.5 million sold in the US. Chinese consumers bought 434 million smartphones, three times the 144 million sold in the US. As a country, China consumes twice as much meat and eight times as much seafood as the US. Chinese shoppers spent twice as much on luxury goods as American shoppers." Feizi attributes the disconnect to Chinese economists' understating the growth in services which they consider as "necessary costs of material production rather than real value creation” while GDP in the US and other Western economies is "largely driven by the inflation of necessary services – rent, healthcare, education and childcare – not by manufactured goods”. "As necessary services become an ever larger share of Western economies, their growth does not appear to result in discernible improvements in living standards...China’s material-focused GDP may be a better measure of the economy as it relates to living standards”, Feizi notes. Full: https://asiatimes.com/2024/06/whats-the-real-size-of-chinas-economy/?mc_cid=64db20d951 This week’s Economist cover story meanwhile reports on the parallel rise of Chinese science. "The old science world order, dominated by America, Europe and Japan, is coming to an end”, it says, pointing to China’s state-directing planning and investment in research and development which has allowed it to vault past the US and Europeans in the physical sciences, chemistry and Earth and environmental sciences while “playing catch up” in other fields. According to the Economist, Chinese scientists now author more “high impact” papers - those cited most often by their peers - and China employs more researchers than the US and Europe combined. More scientists are now returning to the country than leaving. Six Chinese universities now rank in the top ten according to one prestigious index."They may not be household names in the West yet, but get used to hearing about Shanghai Jiao Tong, Zhejiang and Peking (Beida) Universities in the same breath as Cambridge, Harvard and ETH Zurich...As Chinese universities fill with state-of-the-art equipment and elite researchers, and salaries become increasingly competitive, Western institutions look less appealing to young and ambitious Chinese scientists”. The state’s current five year plan calls for advanced research in quantum technologies, AI, semiconductors, neuroscience, biotechnology, and other cutting edge sciences, and while China "still produces a vast amount of lower-quality science too”, the areas where America and Europe still lead are "unlikely to be safe for long...There is little to suggest that the Chinese scientific behemoth will not continue growing stronger." Full: https://archive.is/Dp7J4#selection-1509.0-1509.99 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#30797): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/30797 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/106728659/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
