China is a communist nation with a socialist market economy. It is the world’s second largest economy by nominal GDP and the largest by purchasing power parity, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, given China’s tight control over disclosures of economic information and its tendency to fabricate information about its overall economic health, most question the accuracy of the IMF’s figures.
China is the world’s second largest trading nation behind the US – leading the world in exports and coming in second for imports. From 2009-2011 its trade to GDP ratio was 53.1 percent, while its trade per capita was $2,413.
Since its accession into the WTO in 2001, China‘s share in global trade has doubled – accounting for 10.38 percent of the world’s merchandise trade exports and 9.43 percent of merchandise trade imports.
Since 1949, the Chinese government has been responsible for planning and managing the national economy. But it was only in 1978 – when Deng Xiaoping introduced capitalist market principles –that the Chinese economy began to show massive growth, averaging 10 percent GDP growth over the last 30 years. During that period the size of the Chinese economy has also grown by roughly 48 times, from $168.367 billion (current prices, US dollars) in 1981 to $8.227 trillion last year.
China has one of the most diverse spread of industrial production in the world, fitting for a country that is called ‘The World’s Factory’. Since 1978, the nation has gradually reduced its reliance on state-owned enterprises (SOEs) – though they still account for 46 percent of China’s industrial output, down from 77.6 percent 35 years ago
China has accused the United States of “political prejudice” and “ignoring facts” after the U.S. State Department on Friday called on the Chinese government to fully account for those killed, detained, or missing in the bloody 1989 military crackdown on protesters in Tiananmen Square.
The U.S. call drew a hostile response from Beijing, in which the Chinese government said “a clear conclusion” has already been made regarding the Tiananmen Square protests.
China was the 18th fastest growing economy in the world in 2012, with a real GDP growth rate (constant prices, national currency) of 7.8 percent. Although the figure is its slowest growth since 1999, it is also representative of a maturing economy as it gradually transition from a developing to developed nation.
The International Monetary Fund has lowered the growth forecast for China for the second time in just six weeks, saying it expects growth to reach “around 7.75 percent” this year. The Washington-based institution also warned that Beijing needs to make a “decisive push” to launch new market-oriented reforms and raised concerns about a rapid expansion of credit in the world’s second largest economy.
China will spend close to $5 billion to build an entire city from scratch in the forests near Minsk, the capital of Belarus, reported Bloomberg on Sunday, with the area set to be transformed into a gigantic industrial hub, offering Chinese exporters tax-free entry into Russia and Kazakhstan.
The European Commission on Monday said China cannot be a free-rider in global trade and had to take responsibility for its conduct in global trade systems.
Speaking to the BBC, the European Union’s top trade official Karel De Gucht said China is expected to follow international trade rules with respect to dumping, subsidies and cheap capital.
China’s environment ministry has given its approval for the construction of what will become the country’s tallest hydroelectric dam despite admitting that the project will have an impact on plants and rare fish, reported Reuters on Wednesday.
