Part One
CHINA AS THE WORLD’S LEADING PRODUCING, EXPORTING, AND FINANCIAL POWER: TO WHAT EXTENT, WHERE, AND WHY?
At the start of the second decade of the twenty-first century, the picture looks like this: Manufacturing industries where China is not leading the world in production volumes have become an exception. China is an undisputed leader in export volumes of electrical/electronic products and light industry goods. Its presence in other merchandise export markets is much smaller. Having joined the ranks of important exporters of services, it still remains far behind the United States and other leading services nations—services are not its strong point. The Chinese state is emerging as effectively the world’s number one financial powerhouse (soon you will feel it stronger, as Beijing will become a key emergency lender for cash-strapped Western governments), but China’s private investors are still relatively weak and financial assets of its households are meager.
