china center

Introduction:

Since the late 1970s China has moved from a closed, centrally planned system to a more market- oriented one that plays a major global role – in 2010 China became the world’s largest exporter.

Reforms began with the phasing out of collectivized agriculture, and expanded to include the gradual liberalization of prices, fiscal decentralization, increased autonomy for state enterprises, creation of a diversified banking system, development of stock markets, rapid growth of the private sector, and opening to foreign trade and investment. China has implemented reforms in a gradualist fashion. In recent years, China has renewed its support for state-owned nterprises in sectors it considers important to “economic security,” explicitly looking to foster globally competitive national champions. After keeping its currency tightly linked to the US dollar for years, in July 2005 China revalued its currency by 2.1% against the US dollar and moved to an exchange rate system that references a basket of currencies.

From mid 2005 to late 2008 cumulative appreciation of the renminbi against the US dollar was more than 20%, but the exchange rate remained virtually pegged to the dollar from the onset of the global financial crisis until June 2010, when Beijing allowed resumption of a gradual appreciation. The restructuring of the economy and resulting efficiency gains have contributed to a more than tenfold increase in GDP since 1978. Measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis that adjusts for price differences, China in 2010 stood as the second-largest economy in the world after the US, having surpassed Japan in 2001. The dollar values of China’s agricultural and industrial output each exceed those of the US; China is second to the US in the value of services it produces. Still, per capita income is below the world average. The Chinese government faces numerous economic challenges, including: (a)reducing its high domestic savings rate and correspondingly low domestic demand; (b)sustaining adequate job growth for tens of millions of migrants and new entrants to the workforce; (c) reducing corruption and other economic crimes; and (d) containing environmental damage and social strife related to the economy’s rapid transformation. Economic development has progressed further in coastal provinces than in the interior, and by 2011 more than 250 million migrant workers and their dependents had relocated to urban areas to find work. One consequence of population control policy is that China is now one of the most rapidly aging countries in the world. Deterioration in the environment – notably air pollution,soil erosion, and the steady fall of the water table, especially in the north – is another long- term problem. China continues to lose arable land because of erosion and economic development.

The Chinese government is seeking to add energy production capacity from sources other than coal and oil, focusing on nuclear and alternative energy development. In 2010-11, China faced high inflation resulting largely from its credit-fueled stimulus program. Some tightening measures appear to have controlled inflation, but GDP growth consequently slowed to near 9% for 2011. An economic slowdown in Europe, is expected to further drag Chinese growth moving into 2012. Debt overhang from the stimulus program, particularly among local governments, and a property price bubble challenge policymakers currently. The government’s’ 12th Five-Year Plan, adopted in March 2011, emphasizes continued economic reforms and the need to increase domestic consumption in order to make the economy less dependent on exports in the future. However, China has made only marginal progress toward these rebalancing goals.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html



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CHINA AVIATION & AEROSPACE

China’s aerospace industry has advanced at an impressive rate over the past decade – but where it goes from here could have significant implications for the global industry.

A report from the Rand Corporation, entitled Ready for Takeoff: China’s Advancing Aerospace Industry, explores the phenomenon and the possible implications for the US.

The highlights of the 162-page report include:

While some of this progress can be attributed to rapidly growing governmental support for China’s aerospace sector, China’s aerospace capabilities have also benefited from the increasing participation of its aerospace industry in the global commercial aerospace market and the supply chains of the world’s leading aerospace firms… Chinese airlines, which to...read more


CHINA OIL, POWER & GAS

China’s petroleum resources are a key to its industrial development. Crude oil production increased from 102,000 barrels per day in 1960 to 3.3 million per day as of 2002. In 1998 China had proven reserves of 24 billion barrels. The major producing centers are the Daqing field in Heilongjiang, which came into production in 1965 and accounts for nearly one-third of national production, and the Liaohe field, located in northeastern China. In addition to numerous other mainland finds, China has potential offshore reserves in the Bo Hai area (thought to have reserves of over 1.5 billion barrels) and the South China Sea, especially in the vicinity of Hainan Island.

By the mid-1970s, China no longer had to rely on oil imports; petroleum exports had, in fact, emerged as a major so...read more


CHINA INFRASTRUCTURE

China currently has the most cellphone users of any country in the world, with over 800 users as of July 2010. It also has the world’s largest number of internet and broadband users.
By December 2010, China had around 457 million internet users, an increase of 19% over the previous year, and by the end of 2011 the number of internet users had exceeded 500 million.
According to the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), China’s...read more


CHINA SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Modern China is the heir to a remarkably inventive civilization that pioneered in the development of the abacus (the first mechanical calculating device), paper (and paper money), printing by movable type, gunpowder, the magnetic compass, and the rocket. Contact with the West during the 19th century revealed how technologically backward China had become, and it is only in recent decades that the nation has begun to catch up.

China detonated its first fission device in 1964 and its first hydrogen bomb in 1967; the nation now possesses a variety of nuclear weapons mounted on missiles, bombers, submarines, and other delivery systems. Its first satellite was launched in 1970. By 1992, the PRC had launched an INTELSAT satellite on a Chinese launch vehicle. Other priorities have been t...read more

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