China: New Engine of World Growth

Twenty-five years of reform have transformed China from a centrally planned and closed system to a predominantly market-driven and open economy. As a consequence, China is emerging as the new powerhouse for the world economy. China: new engine for world growth discusses the impact and significance of this transformation. It points out risks to the growth process and unfinished tasks of reform. It presents conclusions from recent research on growth, trade and investment, the financial sector, income and regional disparities, industrial location and private sector development. Ross Garnaut is a Professor of Economics in the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, and Chairman of the China Economy and Business Program at The Australian National University. He was Australia’s Ambassador to China in the 1980s. Ligang Song is a Fellow in the Asia Pacific School of Economics and Government, and Director of the China Economy and Business Program at The Australian National University

China 2002: WTO entry and world recession

In 2002 China enters the WTO. Long awaited by the world’s trading economies, it now comes in a year of global recession. What effect will China’s entry into the WTO have at a difficult time? The rapid expansion of China’s trade has required large adjustment in its trading partners, and the expansion and adjustment will accelerate with WTO entry. The internal adjustment pressures in China from WTO entry are also immense. Recently dubbed Australia’s Ambassador to the region by Rowan Callick of the Financial Review, Ross Garnaut was Australia’s ambassador to China through an earlier exciting period when China took its first major steps towards opening to international trade and investment. He was instrumental in the development of China’s thinking about the WTO. Ross Garnaut is Chairman of the China Economy and Business Program at The Australian National University. Australian members of the Program and their associates gather each year for the China Update. Ligang Song is leading authority on the internationalisation of the Chinese economy and on the development of the private sector in China. He has worked at Peking University and People’s University in Beijing and at the International University in Tokyo

Fuelling the Dragon: A Geopolitical Economy of Natural Gas Transition in China

To tackle its coal-induced air pollution and carbon mission problems, the Chinese government has sought to increase the share of natural gas in its fuel mix to 10 percent by 2020. The gasification of the fuel mix requires the gasification of the country’s energy supply chain, which implies transitions in infrastructures, actors and institutions throughout the chain. This dissertation adopts the global production networks (GPN) approach to evaluate how this form of energy transition will unfold functionally, organisationally, institutionally and politically in and across space. Specifically, it assesses the relational landscape of China’s energy governance, and its implications for gas acquisition, distribution and consumption. It finds: (i) the governments, national oil companies and Chinese Communist Party does not behave like a coherent monolith; instead a range of state actors and institutions have defined the structure of China’s gas production network; (ii) China’s state-led expansion of gas infrastructure is surprisingly effective despite the fragmented governance structure; (iii) national oil companies are seeking further vertical integration at the expense of the prospects of independent downstream players; (iv) China’s gas extraction, import, distribution and consumption can only be understood in relation to one another; (v) any ‘strategic coupling’ between international oil companies and China’s regional gas assets and institutions is conditional, and the window of opportunity is wider in the unconventional gas extraction and downstream distribution; and (vi) future development of gas consumption is institutionally uncertain. This research also, via the case of the gasification in China, demonstrates the utility of GPN approach for understanding energy transition

China’s economic reform : Success, problems and challenges

The rise of China is a major episode in world economic history. From the late 1970s, China pursued market-oriented reforms and open policy. During the past two decades, China experienced extraordinary growth. Since 1978, GDP growth rates have averaged 10 per cent a year, and 10.7 per cent in the 1990s, rivaling the record achieved by Japan and the Four Tigers (South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong and Taiwan province of China) in their fast growing period. In a short span of time, China has experienced three historic transformations simultaneously. First, China is undergoing economic transition from a planned economy to a market economy. Second, China is undergoing economic development from a traditional agricultural economy to an industrialised economy. Third, China is changing from autarky to an important player in the arena of world economy and politics. Chinas experience provides an ideal laboratory for economic research. The study of the Chinese economy can not only shed light on the causes and process of this massive growth surge, but also enrich our understanding of policy reform and institutional changes.economic reform, economic growth, state-owned-banks, state-owned-enterprises, economic development

The Role of Green Energy Systems and Sustainable Development

People are relying upon oil for primary energy and this will continue for a few more decades. Other conventional sources may be more enduring, but are not without serious disadvantages. The renewable energy resources are particularly suited for the provision of rural power supplies and a major advantage is that equipment such as flat plate solar driers, wind machines, etc., can be constructed using local resources. Without the advantage results from the feasibility of local maintenance and the general encouragement such local manufacture gives to the buildup of small-scale rural based industry. This communication comprises a comprehensive review of energy sources, the environment and sustainable development. It includes the renewable energy technologies, energy efficiency systems, energy conservation scenarios, energy savings in greenhouses environment and other mitigation measures necessary to reduce climate change. This study gives some examples of small-scale energy converters, nevertheless it should be noted that small conventional, i.e., engines are currently the major source of power in rural areas and will continue to be so for a long time to come. There is a need for some further development to suit local conditions, to minimise spares holdings, to maximise the interchangeability of the engine parts, and of the engine applications. Emphasis should be placed on full local manufacture. It is concluded that renewable environmentally friendly energy must be encouraged, promoted, implemented and demonstrated by a full-scale plant (device) especially for use in remote rural areas

Sustainable Development and Environmentally Friendly Energy Systems

People are relying upon oil for primary energy and this will continue for a few more decades. Other conventional sources may be more enduring but are not without serious disadvantages. The renewable energy resources are particularly suited for the provision of rural power supplies and a major advantage is that equipment such as flat plate solar driers, wind machines, etc., can be constructed using local resources. Without the advantage results from the feasibility of local maintenance and the general encouragement, such local manufacture gives to the buildup of a small-scale rural-based industry. This communication comprises a comprehensive review of energy sources, the environment, and sustainable development. It includes the renewable energy technologies, energy efficiency systems, energy conservation scenarios, energy savings in greenhouses environment and other mitigation measures necessary to reduce climate change. This study gives some examples of small-scale energy converters, nevertheless, it should be noted that small conventional, i.e., engines are currently the major source of power in rural areas and will continue to be so for a long time to come

An evaluation of the three periods of China's FDI development: 1978-2000

This thesis explores the impact of the fundamental changes in China's FDI related policy, on the development of Western inward FDI in the country. To achieve this, this study, first of all, establishes a definition of the fundamental changes, then divide FDI in China into the different development periods based on the definition, and finally evaluate the fundamental changes in terms of why and how they take place, and what their impact is on FDI development periods. The research covers the duration from 1978 until 2000, when FDI in China experiences three different periods led by three fundamental policy changes respectively: (a) in 1978, China made a historical decision: permitting western FDI to the country, to replace its long-pursued traditional strategy of "self-reliance"; (b) in 1986, China started to adopt a new approach to deal with western FDI, which is promoting FDI, instead of permitting it; and (c) from 1995, the Chinese government adjusted FDI policies according to its economic development strategies and international practice. This shift indicated that China moved from FDI promotion to FDI management. Each fundamental policy change brings China into a particular FDI development period. Looking at these three fundamental changes together, the shift from one change to the next, would provide an overall and consistent picture of China's FDI development periods between 1978 and 2000. In addition, this research explores the root cause for three fundamental policy changes by looking at China's approach to western FDI. The Chinese special approach to FDI is discussed by comparing it with the world generally accepted approaches to FDI in terms of: (a) What is FDI - a definition of FDI. In this section, the world dominant definition of FDI is reviewed and discussed, and China's view on defining FDI is introduced; (b) Why does FDI take place - the theory of FDI. In this part, established FDI theories are examined, ranging from Marxist approach, and the Neoclassical Paradigm, to generally accepted theories of FDI, including Theory of Monopolistic Advantages, Theory of Product Cycle, Kiyoshi Kojima Thesis of Japanese Model of FDI, The Internalisation Theory, and Eclectic Theory of International Production; China's explanation for western FDI in China is given; and (c) How does FDI take place - the form of FDI. This section reviews the worldwide principal forms of FDI, and then looks at how the form of FDI is developed in the country. Moreover, the relationship between the movement of different periods of China's FDI and the development of China's approach to FDI practice is examined. This thesis therefore concludes that it is Chinese special approach to western FDI which generates fundamental changes of China's FDI policies, then turns FDI in China from one period to the next