Thursday , 28 March 2024

China Can’t Compete Economically With the U.S. – Here’s Why

Since the launch of economic reforms in 1978, China has become the world’s second-largest economy, the largest merchandise trader, the largest manufacturer and the largest creditor of the U.S…BUT  the nation is still a laggard in so many respects that it still can’t compete with the United States. Let’s take a look at why that is the case.

So says Tseng Fu-sheng (WantChinaTimes.com) in edited excerpts from the original article* entitled Big but not strong: China still can’t compete with the US.

[The following article is presented by  Lorimer Wilson, editor of  www.munKNEE.com (Your Key to Making Money!), the FREE Market Intelligence Report newsletter (sample here; subscribe here) and www.FinancialArticleSummariesToday.com (A site for sore eyes and inquisitive minds) and has been edited, abridged and/or reformatted (some sub-titles and bold/italics emphases) for the sake of clarity and brevity to ensure a fast and easy read. This paragraph must be included in any article re-posting to avoid copyright infringement.]

Fu-sheng goes on to say in further edited excerpts:

China relies heavy reliance on imported energy and resources, lacks independently developed technology for national defense, relies on Microsoft and Google for computer operating systems in the information era. [Furthermore,] in view of its backwardness in several key respects in terms of economic growth, it’s hard to see how China can compete with the U.S. in the following aspects:

  • China’s per capita clean water resources amount to only one fifth of those of the U.S., a gap which will widen further as water pollution is getting worse in China and there have been increasingly serious water shortages.
  • China trails the U.S. by far in the supply and reserves of energy, especially in view of the latter’s advancement in the exploration of shale oil, nuclear power and wind power, on top of its abundant reserves of petroleum, coal and natural gas.
  • China has to import massive amounts of grain from the U.S. and Canada, while the U.S. is self-sufficient.
  • China will be a grey society by 2020, leading to a contracted labor force which will dampen economic growth.
  • China’s medical care and health system still occupy a low position in the evaluation of the World Health Organization.
  • China’s political and social system have been strained by the eruption of various new issues as the country’s economy has grown, notably a widening wealth gap which has resulted in numerous social problems.
    • People at the bottom of the social ladder have become increasingly discontent and restless as they are denied the fruits of economic development, the bulk of which are in the firm grip of those in the higher echelons of society.
    • The middle class is emerging in China in the wake of rapid economic development and will pose a strong challenge to the autocratic rule of the Communist Party, entailing transitional labor and social costs for the regime, in sharp contrast to the stability of the U.S. system.
Editor’s Note: The author’s views and conclusions in the above article are unaltered and no personal comments have been included to maintain the integrity of the original post. Furthermore, the views, conclusions and any recommendations offered in this article are not to be construed as an endorsement of such by the editor.

*http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx Copyright 2014 WantChinaTimes.com (The author is adviser to the national security section of Taiwan’s National Policy Foundation. Translated by WCT.)

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