In China’s view, there is no reason they should not emerge from the global economic crisis as the world’s next dominant economic superpower — and they are in fact well positioned to do just that, a panel of experts told a University of Wisconsin crowd Thursday.
The panel said as world leaders convene for the G-20 summit this week to discuss the global financial situation, relations between China and the United States are an unavoidable point of interest.
Nicholas Lardy, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said a number of characteristics have insulated China from the worst effects of the financial crisis and have allowed the country to recover from the immediate impacts faster and to a greater degree than most other developed countries.
Lardy said their dramatic initial policy course change when the financial crisis hit about a year ago is a prime example.
“China immediately unleashed fiscal and monetary stimulus that was early, large and well-designed,” Lardy said.
As a result, China was the first globally significant economy to grow rapidly after the initial strike, Lardy said.
Edward Friedman, a UW political science professor, said President Barack Obama is well-aware of China’s advanced position on the global stage and is approaching U.S.-China relations by courting them as a partner without which the world’s major economic and diplomatic problems, such as a nuclear Iran, cannot be confronted.
Friedman added the Chinese government could be more hesitant to dedicate itself to such a partnership than U.S. policy officials might hope for, however.
“China is not part of the problem,” Yao Yang of the National School of Development in Peking, China, said. “This is your problem.”
Friedman echoed this sentiment, saying the Chinese government inter-prets the economic crisis as proof that China was right and the U.S. was wrong, not only in regards to their fiscal policy but also on moral grounds.
“They see it all as a result not just of policies and institutions, but, in a sense, as a result of the fact that they are Chinese people, a superior people, capable of self-discipline and hard work, who value education and know how to work collectively for the common good,” Friedman said.
Yang cited China’s solid manufacturing foundation, its value of education and demographic trends as facets of a solid foundation for China to compete and lead in a world market.
Recognizing China’s growing dominance as a global economic power, Yang said the Obama administration is going to open a valuable window for China to improve relations with the U.S.
Obama will present a sizeable energy package to China’s government to help improve China’s efficiency, which is currently very low: one-third of the United States’, according to Yang.
The plan will entail the U.S. selling energy-efficient technology to China.
