My comment: I really apreciate when authorities and media puts my feet down to earth and breaks my euphoria once we reach any economic success. This article is really apropriate to remain humble and to fucuss on the hard way we have ahead to achieve our real goal, reasonable wellbeing of Chinese people.
China still sober despite economic rise http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2010-02/01/c_13158650.htm Peace and best wishes. Xi BEIJING, Feb. 1 -- Though China is very likely to replace Japan as the second largest economic powerhouse this year after the Unites States, the country's economy cannot rival Japan's in per capita GDP (gross domestic product), a fact that the Chinese should be soberly aware of. And the economic status that China will likely attain is expected to influence the political landscape in East Asia and the world. Due to its 8.7-percent economic growth last year amid the global recession, China and its move up the global economic ladder have caused some to worry in Japan, which has held the No 2 status for decades, about an about-face in the regional and global political scenes. Critics have called on the Japanese government to reshuffle relations with the US and China to prepare for China's rise. Many in the Japanese public said that China's rapid economic growth as well as its military expansion might pose a massive threat to Japan's economy and security after the prediction last June by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry that China's GDP will likely leapfrog that of Japan. But some critics now disagree, insisting that China's economic level does not rival Japan's in per capita GDP, overseas asset values and GNP (gross national product), despite that the fact its economic aggregate will overtake Tokyo. Currently, Japan's per capita GDP is $30,000 and its overseas assets are approximately $2 trillion, compared with China's fledging overseas investments and much thinner per capita GNP and GDP data. Due to different stances about China's rapid buildup, especially economically, policy remains divided within Japan toward its neighbor. The mainstream viewpoint holds that Japan should cement its alliance with the US, step up its integration into East Asia and ensure Tokyo's dominant status in the changing regional political order to cope with Beijing's rise. The policy of "disengagement from the US and integration into Asia" embraced by the cabinet of incumbent Yukio Hatoyama reflects the country's domestic policy orientations. China's economic growth is also believed to have upset the changing status of Beijing and Tokyo in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). China's ascending status in the region has caused some in Japan to ask: Who will now lead regional integration? Between the 1970s and '90s, the "geese-flying" economic model advocated by Japan helped the East Asian economy's robust advancement. But the heady momentum was disrupted by Japan's decision to cut down its direct economic involvement into the region following the 1998 East Asian financial crisis. No single country has dominated the agenda of East Asian integration. So far, ASEAN has had a rotating trade belt covering China, Japan, Australia, South Korea and India and no single country, either China or Japan, has gained dominance in regional trade and economic affairs. Any progress in ASEAN talks with the US and the EU on free trade would further weaken any individual nation's capability of dominating regional economic affairs in the future. Compared with Japan's cooperation with ASEAN, which is on a broad basis of personnel flow, finances, talent training and accounting, China's cooperation with the 10-member bloc still mainly involves goods and service trade and investments, and has a long way to go. The ever-growing propulsive role China has played in East Asian economy is also of global significance. As its status increases, China's role on the international stage has also risen, either on climate change, or reform of the international monetary system and other issues. As its interaction with the US expands, the country's status on the strategic chessboard of the world's sole superpower is also expected to rise. Since the end of World War II, Japan has always acted as Washington's "Asian Britain" in Asia-Pacific affairs. However, the creation of the concept of the Group of Two (the US and China), although negated by China, seemingly foreshadows a new change in Washington's Asian diplomatic posture. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "World-thread" group. To post to this group, send email to world-thr...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to world-thread+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/world-thread?hl=en.
