China's Modern Economy 中国现代经济 meets TuTh 11:45-1:15 Huntley 230
To try to separate posts into the two class sections.
Earlier in the year, we read Country Driving, focusing on the challenges to China’s growing economy. Corruption within the country’s government stands out in Hessler’s writings as a major inhibitor to economic growth. Many government projects failed due to the lack of legal accountability for Chinese officials, resulting in diminished public trust and unnecessary economic costs. While many… Continue reading Anti-Corruption in Communist China
This article primarily deals with the advent of ramifications that are associated with the recent slowdown in the Chinese economy. Primarily, it seems as though investors are starting to show doubt in Chinese industry. This issue presents the nation with a unique challenge, as the nation must attempt to of shifting its historically export-driven economy… Continue reading Chinas “New Normal”
Stocks slumped late last week after the Dow reached record numbers, due in part to Chinese statistics showing lower than expected gains. Government data showed China’s industrial production only rose 9.9 percent in January and February. Analysts in a Bloomberg survey said they projected a 10.6 percent growth. Separate figures showed retail sales in China… Continue reading U.S. stocks slip due in part to weak Chinese data
Jing Daily recently published an article regarding the relationship between premium brands, both international and regional, and WeChat. WeChat, known as Wei Xin in Chinese, is the no.1 rated smart phone chatting app in China. Having been a convenient chatting and voice messaging app designed by Tencent, WeChat is constantly exceeding its performance for the… Continue reading 2013 Outlook: Premium Brands In China
One of the major themes in Hessler’s Country Driving is widespread migration from rural villages to large cities. On multiple occasions he comments that the degree of withdrawal from villages is so extreme that he may be witnessing the last generation to inhabit such areas. All of the near-abandoned villages had the same story: younger generations were leaving… Continue reading Economic Inequality Among Rural and Urban Chinese
This Wall Street Journal article discusses how China is losing foreign direct investment in its low cost manufacturing sector, which includes the production of goods such as shirts and basic electronic components. The production of these goods is now shifting to cheaper production regions such as those of Southeast Asia, in part due to Beijing’s… Continue reading China Loses Edge as World’s Factory Floor
This Reuters article details the issue of Chinese new policy of stockpiling cotton in order to keep prices high enough for farmers to turn a profit. The high prices have resulted in an increase in China’s imports of yarn by nearly a third in 2013. Also, the high prices have pushed production to southeast Asia… Continue reading China’s cotton policy spurs yarn imports, drives mills overseas
In Hessler’s Country Driving, there are a lot of moments when Hessler is driving on the highways and there are no other cars except for the Liberation trucks. This contrasts greatly with the scenes in the cities where cars travel in packs, bumping up against one another. One of the things that we did not… Continue reading Country Driving and Transportation
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the World Trade Organization have created a new possibly more accurate system for analyzing trade between countries. The traditional method measures only imports and exports and is much simpler. However, the old model is considered; by many experts as too simple for an increasingly complex worldwide economy. The… Continue reading U.S. China trade deficit significantly lower under new system of analysis
Growing up in China, I’ve been educated that when people are married, the guy’s family needs to provide an apartment for the young family, either new or old. In recent years, with the high inflation in both consumer goods and real estate market, young people have been complaining about not being able to afford housing… Continue reading Can the Young Chinese Afford Housing Now?
Cyclists travel on the road on a hazy day in Huaibei, in central China’s Anhui province Monday Jan. 14, 2013. (AP Photo) an excerpt thanks to Christine Feng [the prof] Air Pollution Crisis In China Could Trigger The Public Backlash Needed For Officials To Take Action By Lisa Barron On January 15, 2013 @ 11:15 am… Continue reading Air Pollution: Visibly Bad
With the India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue, India and China could potentially join forces and foster economic power. This dialogue could lead to gaining high-speed Chinese trains and to having Indian information technology experts working in China. This dialogue would also open up more opportunities for foreign direct investment between the two countries. The India-China Strategic… Continue reading High-Speed Trains, Trade on India-China Agenda
The village of Maoping in 1982 represented both the continuity of Chinese rural life and the changes brought about by the Communist Party. The peasantry appears unaffected by the efforts at modernization begun near China’s eastern urban centers. Housing was built out of wood and earth in a traditional process centuries old. Rice remained the… Continue reading Village China