International Law

China Takes Advantage of the Great Recession

By Stan

Excellent article in the New York Times by one of my favorites, Keith Bradsher. It’s not exactly news, but it is a great summary of what Beijing is doing to not only prop up its economy during the downturn, but also to spend the money wisely to spur future economic development.

Here’s the intro:

The global economic downturn, and efforts to reverse it, will probably make China an even stronger economic competitor than it was before the crisis.

China, the world?s third-largest economy behind the United States and Japan, had already become more assertive; now it is exploiting its unusual position as a country with piles of cash and a strong banking system, at a time when many countries have neither, to acquire natural resources and make new friends.

Two comments. First, this is all very positive if you are Chinese or do business with China. As I make my living here, it all sounds good to me. However, I do understand that as China makes more overseas purchases and asserts its position more in international institutions, the China Threat crowd will freak out and churn out more rhetoric about the “inevitable” conflict between China and the U.S. Nothing we can do about that, I suppose, except rebut the nonsense when it gets thrown out there.

Second, from a comparative standpoint, I find it rather interesting that at the same time a mainstream media outlet like the New York Times can publish an article like this, which lists all the ways that China is spending money for its future (as a positive thing), the American media is full of stories that adopt the Republican talking point that Obama is spending too much money, or that his spending is bad because it is for Democratic “pet projects” like clean technology or education reform.

According to some in the U.S. media, apparently:

Investing in China’s economic future = smart stimulus.

Investing in America’s economic future = wasteful spending.

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Full post as published by China Hearsay on March 17, 2009 (boomark / email).