China's Emergence As A Superpower

1587 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Rise of china as superpower

"The 19th century belonged to the British. The 20th century belonged to the United States. But the 21st century belongs to China," -- Jim Rogers, Hedge fund manager China's population is one of the greatest natural resources on the planet. Its citizens are becoming more educated, diligent, aspiring and comprise nearly a quarter of the world's population. The combination of China's massive size and rapid modernization is creating the framework for an emerging superpower. China's growing economy is not only gaining international prestige, but its confidence has soared as it continues to be the world's fastest growing economy for the past three decades. "China's rise as a manufacturing base is going to have the same kind of impact on the world that the industrialization of the U.S. had, perhaps even bigger," stated Andy Xie, a Hong-Kong based economist with Morgan Stanley. It is particularly important to note both the causes and the impact of the emergence of China as a superpower. Although, in order for the impact to be assessed, the underlying causes must be analyzed first. Thus, the purpose of this argument is to critically examine the causes of China's emergence as a superpower. In doing so, a retrospective analysis of China's history will be conducted so that the appropriate transitions underlying the causes of China's growth can be analyzed. Most importantly, it should be understood why it is important to learn and become educated about the causes of China's emergence as a superpower. The growth and emergence of China as a superpower has many implications/consequences that can be beneficial or detrimental depending on how the situation is approached. Furthermore, it is important to maximize any oppo... ... middle of paper ... ...ation's resources more effectively than previously done and launched the most ambitious program of industrialization in Chinese history . Mao believed in the class struggle. Thus, he thought that if he distributed the resources of China to the poorer areas, he would increase productivity in these areas and as a result, the wealthy class would have to compete (struggle) with the lower class to maintain productivity. Chinese economic accomplishments during the Maoist era included overall economic growth, creation of strong industrial base, equally allocated resources, a road system, and public health improvements. Despite this, the living standards remained very low and China's economic system was very inefficient. "Mao saw economic development only in terms of national power, not in terms of individual well-being—a growing preoccupation in China," (Terrill, 432).

Show More
Related

  • Red China Blues Case Study

    1344 Words  | 3 Pages

    Following the Chinese Revolution of 1949, China’s economy was in ruin. The new leader, Mao Zedong, was responsible for pulling the economy out of the economic depression. The problems he faced included the low gross domestic product, high inflation, high unemployment, and high prices on goods. In order to solve these issues, Mao sought to follow a more Marxist model, similar to that of the Soviet Union. This was to use government intervention to develop industry in China. In Jan Wong’s Red China Blues, discusses Maoism and how Mao’s policies changed China’s economy for the worse. While some of Mao’s early domestic policies had some positive effects on China’s economy, many of his later policies caused China’s economy to regress.

    Read More

  • Mao vs. Deng

    1077 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mao's period of communal reform and the establishment of the Communist party from 1949-1976 was needed in order for Deng's individual oriented, capitalist society to thrive. Mao's period encompassed the structure of a true dictatorial communist government. It strove to concentrate on unifying communities to create a strong political backbone while being economically self-sufficient and socially literate and educated in Maoist propaganda. Under Mao's leadership individual wealth was seen as a hindrance to community goals in meeting production quotas and was crushed by such policies as collectivization, land reformation, and movements such as The Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution. Under his rule, modeled under the Stalinist USSR archetype, China raised its masses from poverty and starvation to a standard of living that was considered a substantial upgrade.

    Read More

  • What Is Mao Zedong Motivations

    748 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of Mao Zedong’s motivations for beginning the Cultural Revolution was his view that a cutting-edge bureaucratic ruling class had surfaced because of the centralized authoritarian nature of the political system, which had little hope for popular participation in the process of economic development (The Chinese Cultural Revolution revisited). The motivations of Fidel Castro, on the other hand, were different in that he wanted all people of all classes to be equal. The notion that the poverty-stricken could live a life equal to all other humans was an immense sense of happiness and alteration. In China, Mao Zedong developed many things to entice people.

    Read More

  • Foreign Direct Investment in China

    1419 Words  | 3 Pages

    China has come a very long way in the past 25 years. China has grown at nearly 10 percent a year over the past 20 years. China's explosion on to the world investment, production and trade scene is the product of its size, growth and openness. This is leading to tremendous changes in the global economy.

    Read More

  • The Cold War

    832 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion while it is clear that both the USA and the USSR were super-powers during the 45 year Cold War I believe that it can be argued that the USA was the pre-eminent super-power. This is primarily because they were able to outspend the USSR so effectively at crucial points such as during the USSR invasion of Afghanistan and during the later “Star Wars” period. The amount that President Reagan proposed to spend on this nuclear defence system just could not be matched by the USSR. In more recent times China is considered a possibility for reaching super-power status. While economically this may be the case as far as the influence of their culture and way of life goes it would appear that China has still not quite made super-power status.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Marxism In 'Red Scarf Girl'

    1391 Words  | 3 Pages

    That his desires to create equality amongst his people were good is not the argument here. Rather, the focus is that by seeking to destroy the bourgeoisie within China and to raise up the proletariat, Mao simply helped these two social classes switch roles.

    Read More

  • Communism in China

    835 Words  | 2 Pages

    This essay has critically analysed and examined the effect of Communism on the Chinese Society during the period of 1946-1964. The overall conclusion that can be drawn is that the Chinese Communist Party managed to defeat the Kuomintang (Nationalist) Party and achieve victory in the Civil War, in spite of alienation by the Soviet Union and opposition from the U.S. This was primarily because of the superior military strategy employed by the Communists and the economic and political reforms introduced by this party which brought more equality to the peasants in the form of land ownership and better public services. This increased China’s production and manufacturing which not only boosted the country’s economy but also provided a more sustainable supply of food, goods and services for the Chinese people.

    Read More

  • Foreign Trade with China

    2820 Words  | 6 Pages

    From the 1970s, there has been a wave of liberalization in China, which was introduced by Deng Xiaoping. This is one of the key reasons to the rise of China to be one of the economic giants in the world. In the last 25 years of the century, the Chinese economy has had massive economic growth, which has been 9.5 percent on a yearly basis. This has been of great significance of the country since it quadrupled the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country thus leading to saving of 400 million of their citizens from the threats of poverty. In the late 1970s, China was ranked twentieth in terms of trade volumes in the whole world as well as being predicted to be the world’s top nation concerning trading activities (Kaplan, 53). This further predicted the country to record the highest GDP growth in the whole world.

    Read More

  • China's Development

    1177 Words  | 3 Pages

    China's development is praised by the whole world. Its developments are not only in the economic aspect, but also in its foreign affairs. Compared to other developed countries, China is a relatively young country. It began constructing itself in 1949. After 30 years of growth, company ownership has experienced unprecedented changes.

    Read More

  • World Politics: American Hegemony

    2936 Words  | 6 Pages

    Wei-Wei Zhang. (2004). The Implications of the Rise of China. Foresight, Vol. 6 Iss: 4, P. 223 – 226.

    Read More

  • Compare and Contrast: China and The USA

    926 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...st and stand in the world. It is predicted that China will one day be the largest economy growing country in world. They continually growing and rebalancing their world to be the best. The growth of economy will depend on the Chinese government comprehensive economic reforms that more quickly accelerate in China transition to a free market economy. The consumer demand, rather than exporting the main engine of economic growth; boost productivity and innovation; address growing income disparities; and enhance environmental. (Morrison, 2014,para2)

    Read More

  • China: A New World Power

    1136 Words  | 3 Pages

    China is one of the main viable candidates as this century’s new world power. Today, it maintains a strong economic stance within the international market, and is expanding at a rapid pace. The United States cannot maintain its position as hegemon for the rest of humanity; just as how ...

    Read More

  • The Threat of China

    784 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the race to be the best, China is clearly outperforming the United States. China has strong economic fundamentals¬ such as “a high savings rate, huge labor pool, and powerful work ethic” (Rachman, Gideon. "Think Again: American Decline). Their economy has grown an astonishing 9-10% over the past thirty years; almost double of what it used to be decades ago. China is also the “world’s greatest manufacturer and its greatest market” (Rachman). The continuing growth of China's economy is a source of concern for not only the U.S. but surrounding nations as well. One could argue that the U.S. need not worry about China’s growth because of the spread of globalization and that western ideologies would influence China to turn to democracy. Yet China has still managed to “incorporate censorship and one party rule with continuing economic success” (Rachman) and remains a communist country. Hypothetically, even if China does resort to a democratic state, this does not gua...

    Read More

  • China: Rising to Be the Next Superpower?

    975 Words  | 2 Pages

    The rise in China from a poor, stagnant country to a major economic power within a time span of twenty-eight years is often described by analysts as one of the greatest success stories in these present times. With China receiving an increase in the amount of trade business from many countries around the world, they may soon be a major competitor to surpass the U.S. China became the second largest economy, last year, overtaking Japan which had held that position since 1968 (Gallup). China could become the world’s largest economy in decades.

    Read More

  • The Rise Of China

    920 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... a leader that had ideas for an organized government system. Although Communism controls most aspects of people’s lives, some feel it is a better form of organization than the Chinese Nationalistic Party called for. Mao Zedong also encouraged agricultural and industrial output. Even though the ‘Great Leap Forward’ slowed this down for China, it was able to recover. China is now the home of one of the most powerful and important economies and manufacturing centers in the entire world. If Mao Zedong had never come to power, China may have never become unified.

    Read More

More about China's Emergence As A Superpower

Open Document