'Theory of World Factory' Is Misleading: Commentary

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, December 20, 2002

'Theory of World Factory' Is Misleading: Commentary

There should be an appropriate and objective assessment of the present strength and development prospect of China's economy, and one should not depreciate or deliberately exaggerate things regarding these aspects, and thereby even echo and explain the so-called China Threat Theory, thus misleading public opinion and distorting truth.

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Against the background in which the world economy has generally been in the doldrums in the past two years, the momentum of China's sustained economic growth has attracted world attention, but there should be an appropriate and objective assessment of the present strength and development prospect of China's economy, and one should not depreciate or deliberately exaggerate things regarding these aspects, and thereby even echo and explain the so-called China Threat Theory, thus misleading public opinion and distorting truth.

Recently, some Japanese economists brought up the topic of "China threat theory" for discussion in "Japanese Industry News". They held that although some people describe China as a "world factory", but this is manifested only in the substantial growth of the processing industry. In the field of capital- and technology-intensive manufacturing industry, China is still in the burgeoning and exploratory stage and is thus still far away from the concept of a "world factory".

At the present stage, China's economic and trade relationship with Japan and other neighboring countries is not a competitive one, but is a cooperative and mutually complementary relationship. In this sense, China cannot be termed a kind of threat. In the meantime, Japan should correctly treat and grasp China's development opportunity and make it a catalytic factor conducive to Japan's economy. thus giving further expression to the complementarity of the economies of the two countries.

From the opinions of the far-sighted people in the Japanese economic circle, it can be seen that in the world economic pattern, questions, such as how to position, what is the strength of China and what is the influence of China's rapid development on surrounding areas, have aroused increasingly extensive international interest, it is the general view of the external world that the trend of China's economic growth has been viable since its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

On the other hand, the industrial structure, reform of State-owned enterprises, the risk of bad banking debts, the environment and other problems must also be put into the scope of overall assessment. As long as China's development and problems are treated in an objective, comprehensive and well-intentioned way, the "China threat theory" or the "China collapse theory" are untenable.

Currently, there are two attitudes toward China's economic development: One holds that enhancement of China's processing and manufacturing capabilities is bound to lead to increase in the export of products. This naturally constitutes a challenge to related industries and products of other countries, at the same time, it also provides an opportunity for strengthening one's own competitiveness. While acknowledging the adversary's strong points, this view stresses the need to draw on others' strong points to make up one's deficiencies and convert external superiority into one's own advantage.

Another attitude is shifting the responsibility for the failure in competition to the "unfair competition" of China's products, and so on and so forth, and even using political factors to intensify trade frictions. This attitude of blaming fate and others can only cause one to miss the optimum opportunity and suffer a defeat in the face of the challenge posed by economic globalization.

An alarming article was recently carried in British "Financial Times" which energetically disseminated the "China threat theory" and the "world factory theory", saying that China's neighboring countries are following with awe and veneration the world's most populous country undergoing change into a "world factory", China is too powerful as far as East Asia is concerned; it is only a matter of time for this economic power to become a military power, it is quite possible that East Asia will become the place for the outbreak of a major war.

The article even cited the view of some conservatives who lumped together the regional situation appeared after China's development with the history of Germany which became the source of the European war. We should like to ask: is it that only an impoverished and backward China is conducive to Asia's security and stability?

As the largest developing country in the world, China's development still means a heavy task and a long way ahead. For a long time in the past, China has been cooperating hand in hand with other Asian countries and regarded realization of regional and world peace and stability as its own objective. China's development not only plays the role of promoting Asia's economic development but is also favorable to world peace and stability.

The above international commentary, written by Zhu Mengkui, is published on page 3 of People's Daily on December 20.

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