With a population of over 1.2 billion, China has exploded into a huge potential marketplace for the world’s production of goods and services. U.S policy makers and business executives alike have realized a powerful long-term trend in Southeast Asia: the rise of the great China economy. Paced by a rapid rate of investment and given the abundance of trained human capital, the Asian rim, of which China is a leading nation, has become the fastest growing region of the world. Many observers expect this trend to continue for at least the rest of the decade-and most likely into the next century.
Background on China
Foreign trade in China is almost completely dominated by the state. In 1979, China relaxed certain trade restrictions, paving the way for increases in the relatively small foreign investment and trade activity. By the late 1980s, yearly exports totaled about $41.1 billion and imports $46.4 billion, and both have increased sharply since then. The principal Chinese exports include crude and refined petroleum, cotton fabric, silk, clothing, rice, pork, frozen shrimp, and tea. Among the major imports are machinery, steel products, automobiles, other metals, synthetics, agricultural chemical, rubber, and wheat. Most of China’s trade is with noncommunist countries, including Japan 9its main trading partner), Hong Kong, Canada, and the United States. Other countries with which China has extensive trade relations are Germany, Taiwan, and Singapore.
China has been undergoing a dramatic transformation to a market economy. As a result, it currently is the world leader in terms of economic growth, industrial expansion, and exports. It contains an array of potential consumers that far exceeds the markets in Europe or the Western Hemisphere, and it is rapidly emerging as a new epicenter for industry, commerce, and finance................
