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Sunday November 22, 2009

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Past Event

A Foreign Policy and John L. Thornton China Center Event

China’s Economic Growth and Its Implications for the World

China, BRICs, Global Economics, China's Economy, Globalization


Event Summary

The rapid growth of the Chinese economy in the last two decades has brought significant and widespread prosperity to the Chinese people. But with that change has come new social, economic and environmental problems that are only now emerging.

Event Information

When

Tuesday, January 08, 2008
1:30 PM to 5:30 PM

Where

Falk Auditorium
The Brookings Institution
1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC
Map

Event Materials


Contact: Brookings Office of Communications

E-mail: events@brookings.edu

Phone: 202.797.6105

On the domestic front, the trickling-down mechanisms that channel part of China’s economic growth to lower-income groups has slowed down considerably. While the vast majority of the Chinese population still experiences continued income growth, the hardcore (extreme) poverty rate has stagnated and the degree of economic inequality has increased across provinces and across occupations. On the international front, disputes over China’s trade barriers and exchange rate policies have become more frequent and more contentious. The solution to these new problems will require not only creative policies by China, but also cooperative policies with the rest of the world.

On January 8, the John L. Thornton China Center and CAIJING Magazine hosted a symposium on China’s economy and its implications for the global economy. A distinguished panel of leading economists and China experts analyzed and discussed the policy options that would enable sustained high growth of the Chinese and global economy. After each panel, participants took audience questions.

Transcript

HU SHULI:  Caijing has published its annual edition in the Chinese language for six years. Why English this year? Because we want the world to understand China and Caijing, who we are and why our magazine deserves attention. It’s true that 2000 years ago, ancient Chinese built the Great Wall to keep the foreign invaders out, but today sometimes we feel that the Great Wall still stands between China and the rest of the world. This is an invisible wall constructed by language and the cultural differences, fortified by misunderstandings and even bias. To put it simply, we often feel foreign readers don’t really know what’s going on in China. Now, international airlines fly and pass over the Great Wall everyday. We think that it is the time to scale this invisible wall by presenting you our annual edition and put the thoughts and the minds from China in your hands, in your language.

Why now? Because China is no longer just a strong exporter of manufactured goods or a workshop for the world’s developed economies. China is building a deep and broad domestic market that is integrated with global marketplaces. China is also a major exporter of capital and taking up more responsibilities for shaping the global economic world.

No one doubts that China’s economy is changing rapidly. Like it or not, China is a global powerhouse. However, the global powerhouse is struggling with growth pains. The capital markets are in transition and the stocks may be overvalued. Corruption still lurks in the shadows. More work is needed to build the legal framework for giving protection to properties. Meanwhile, trade negotiators are grappling with serious issues. Our environmental challenges are huge. I’m sure you’ve heard these concerns time and again, but there’s more behind the rhetoric.

Participants

Opening Remarks

John L. Thornton

Chair of the Board, The Brookings Institution

HU Shuli

Editor, CAIJING Magazine

Moderator

WANG Shuo

Managing Editor, Caijing Magazine

Panelists

Robert Dowling

Visiting Professor, Tsinghua University

HU Tao

Guest Professor, University of Oregon

Daniel Rosen

Visiting Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics

Wing Thye Woo

Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Global Economy and Development

Panelists

James Hoge

Editor, Foreign Affairs, Council on Foreign Relations

Fred Hu

Chairman, Goldman Sachs Asia

David Ignatius

Associate Editor and Columnist, Washington Post

ZHOU Qi

Senior Researcher, China Academy of Social Sciences


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