China’s march towards a modern economy continues unabated, even with reports of a recent slowdown. While the country is still held back by the restrictive policies of the government, censorship and corruption, many changes are afoot that will transform the culture over time.
Some of the numbers coming out of China lately have spooked economists and investors, and there’s a real debate as to the strength of the Chinese economy. This article in The Economist takes a more positive outlook.
CHINA’S weight in the global economy means that it commands the world’s attention. When its industrial production, house building and electricity output slow sharply, as they did in the year to April, the news weighs on global stockmarkets and commodity prices. When its central bank eases monetary policy, as it did this month, it creates almost as big a stir as a decision by America’s Federal Reserve. And when China’s prime minister, Wen Jiabao, stresses the need to maintain growth, as he did last weekend, his words carry more weight with the markets than similar homages to growth from Europe’s leaders. No previous industrial revolution has been so widely watched.
But rapid development can look messy close up, as our special report this week explains; and there is much that is going wrong with China’s economy. It is surprisingly inefficient, and it is not as fair as it should be. But outsiders’ principal concern—that its growth will collapse if it suffers a serious blow, such as the collapse of the euro—is not justified. For the moment, it is likely to prove more resilient than its detractors fear. Its difficulties, and they are considerable, will emerge later on.
Check out the entire argument presented in the article. This issue will be front and center as the world grapples with the problems in Europe. A real slowdown in China could be catastrophic.
There is nothing like when a culture experiences a strong and sudden change. With China going through a revolution over the past generation that is larger than anything since Germany’s military ramping up prior to World War II, the world has to take notice. While there is nothing violent about this change, wise people notice when a hard working people begins to develop a whole new vision that changes their entire lifestyle.
This article is pretty funny. The Chinese are now rivaling the Japanese in the strange soft drink market.
Apple is ramping up audits of factories in China.
Apple has told a prominent Chinese environmental activist that it will soon launch independent environmental audits of at least two suppliers’ factories in China, the activist said.
The audits come as Apple faces mounting criticism about toxic pollution and factory injuries at overseas suppliers’ factories. The environmental reviews would be separate from an independent probe of working conditions at the China factories of Apple suppliers, including Foxconn Technology, that began last week.
Ma Jun, founder of The Institute of Environmental and Public Affairs, told USA TODAY Monday in a phone interview that Apple agreed to the independent audits in late January in response to two reports that IPE and other environmental groups released last year documenting hazardous waste leaks and the use of toxic chemicals at suspected Apple suppliers.
Apple’s image has taken a beating with the problems at Foxconn, so let’s see if this is a new trend.
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