CHINA´S ACCESSION TO WTO: EXAGGERATED FEARS?

The determination of China to accede to the World Trade Organization was driven mostly by its desire to further its economic reform. However, because of the spectacular growth in its international trade in the past two decades, there is the fear that with China’s accession to WTO, China would undergo another wave of international trade expansion which might cost job opportunities in both developed and developing worlds. On the other hand, the Chinese are wary of social dislocation to be caused by intensified foreign competition in the post-accession period. A close examination of the structure of China’s international trade shows that because of the high import contents of China’s exports and the fact that foreign-funded companies account for about half of China’s international trade, future growth in China’s international trade will benefit to various degrees China’s trading partners as well as home countries of transnational corporations. Furthermore, the talk of an imminent export surge from China seems far- fetched, as the conditions of China’s accession to WTO as well China’s foreign trade potential are unlikely to permit that to take place. On the whole, the challenges posed by China’s accession to WTO will, at least in the short run, be greater to China than to its trading partners. However, two decades of fast economic growth and opening-up to the outside world have prepared the country. Therefore, the new set of problems for China is likely to be surmountable.

Development Path of China and India and the Challenges for their Sustainable Growth

The segmentation of global manufacturing and services provided China and subsequently India with a golden opportunity to make full use of their absolute advantage?low cost yet educated labour?to integrate into the world economy within a comparatively shorter period of time than some earlier industrialisers. Though international trade functioned as a vent of surplus in view of the narrowness of their domestic markets at the beginning of their economic catch-up, the label of export-led model may not reflect the real picture as imports underwent dramatic increases during their respective growth periods, in particular for China. Foreign direct investment has played a pivotal role in their economic growth and has major presence in international trade and investment in leading sectors of both countries, giving rise to certain special features and weak links for their economic expansion and sustainability of fast economic growth. To maintain more broad-based, fast and balanced growth, it seems that both countries have to redress sectoral imbalances, encourage technology upgrading and cope with future changes in demographic profiles which constituted a trigger to fast economic growth at the time of their respective economic reform.China, India, development

Research on Chinese small and medium-sized businesses’ human resource management

AbstractHuman capital, as an important factor of production in the 21st century, has become an important resource which determines economic development and business competition. At present, Chinese enterprises face serious challenges, but also bring opportunities. Therefore, Chinese enterprises will update ideas, adjust the structure of human resources, strengthen personnel training, and learn and introduce the advanced human resource management techniques and tools to ensure corporate strategic objectives

Assessment of soil water, carbon and nitrogen cycling in reseeded grassland on the North Wyke Farm Platform using a process-based model

The North Wyke Farm Platform (NWFP) generates large volumes of temporally-indexed data that provides a valuable test-bed for agricultural mathematical models in temperate grasslands. In our study, we used the primary datasets generated from the NWFP (https://nwfp.rothamsted.ac.uk/) to validate the SPACSYS model in terms of the dynamics of water loss and forage dry matter yield estimated through cutting. The SPACSYS model is capable of simulating soil water, carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) balance in the soil-plant-atmosphere system. The validated model was then used to simulate the responses of soil water, C and N to reseeding grass cultivars with either high sugar (Lolium perenne L cv. AberMagic) or deep rooting (Festulotium cv. Prior) traits. Simulation results demonstrated that the SPACSYS model could predict reliably soil water, C and N cycling in reseeded grassland. Compared to AberMagic, the Nor grass could fix more C in the second year following reseeding, whereas less C was lost through soil respiration in the first transition year. In comparison to the grass cifitivar of the permanent pasture that existed before reseeding, both grasses reduced N losses through runoff and conhibuted to reducing water loss, especially Prior in relation to the latter. The SPACSYS model could predict these differences as supported by the rich dataset from the NWFP, providing a tool for future predictions on less characterized pasture. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access articleRN the CC BY licens

Assessment of South-South cooperation and the global narrative on the eve of BAPA+40

This research paper gives a brief account of the fast expansion of South-South cooperation (SSC) in volume, modalities and participating countries and institutions. Though SSC is a de facto development compact, there is a tendency to overstate the total concessional financial element of SSC compared to Official Development Assistance (ODA), as SSC constitutes only a small portion of the total ODA from traditional donors. North-South cooperation (NSC) is still the dominant pillar of development finance; hence SSC needs to be regarded as a complement to and not a substitute for NSC. In view of its relatively short history of economic and financial cooperation as well as technical assistance projects, SSC is facing many challenges including the lack of soft and hard institutional frameworks. With a realistic assessment of SSC and its global narrative, and taking into account the growing diversity among the Southern countries as providers and users of SSC, the paper makes suggestions on important elements that the coming Second High-Level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation may consider to consolidate the Southern ownership of SSC and enhance its impact on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

China's debt problem and rising systemic risks: Impact of the global financial crisis and structural problems

The fast expansion of China's debt, in particular corporate and local government debt, has attracted international attention and has also become a major concern of China's policy makers. Even though China can tolerate a higher debt level than many other emerging and developing economies owing to the sheer size and other special features of the Chinese economy, systemic risks for financial stability have been rising since the global financial crisis and the cushions built in the past decades to withstand a higher debt level have also been weakened. This paper reviews the evolution of China's debt built-up, examines reasons behind this trend and factors leading to the rising systemic risks including the expansion of shadow credits, increasing interlinkages between the stock and bond markets as well as the banking sector, and declining returns of investment from the corporate sector. The paper also makes recommendations for addressing the challenges to maintain financial stability and economic growth

Trends, reasons and prospects of de-dollarization

The 1944 "Bretton Woods Agreement" gave birth to the new international financial system marked by the centrality of the US dollar which is a crucial pillar of the global power of the United States. Over the past eight decades, the asymmetry of the shrinking US economic weight in the world economy and growing dominant role of the dollar has become more and more glaring. The disadvantages of overreliance on the dollar have been keenly felt, especially by developing countries. The recent moves to weaponize the dollar and the payment clearance system have triggered another wave of reassessment by national states and enterprises of the role of the dollar and led to the hitherto most broad-based de-dollarization process covering from Southeast Asia to Latin America and the Middle East. De-dollarization has been incrementally taking place in different forms and led by BRICS and some commodity exporting countries. However, there are many challenges to meaningful de-dollarization. Overall, de-dollarization efforts, despite important progress, have been limited and partial. There has been progress in reducing overreliance on the dollar through foreign exchange reserve diversification and trade invoicing as evidenced by the decline in the dollar's share of allocated foreign exchange reserves and the increase of trade invoiced and transacted in currencies other than the dollar. However, on aspects requiring the deep financial market and wide network such as foreign exchange transactions, issuance of debt and payment clearance, the dollar's share has not suffered a decline. To reform the international financial system, the BRICS in particular should continue to take the lead in furthering the de-dollarization efforts

Cu and Na contents regulate N uptake of Leymus chinensis growing in soda saline-alkali soil.

Leymus chinensis (L. chinensis) is the dominant plant in the eastern margins of the Eurasian temperate grasslands. It is a very robust species, exhibiting good saline-alkali resistance and stabilizing soil. In this study, 67 soil samples and L. chinensis were collected in western Jilin province, China. The contents of N, P, K, S, Mn, Fe, Zn, Cu and Na were measured, revealing that the growth of L. chinensis was mainly restricted by N based on the stoichiometric N: P ratios of plant. Furthermore, path analysis indicated that N was significantly correlated with K, S, Cu, and Zn. Imbalances in the homeostasis of these four elements may thus constrain N. The homeostasis index of Cu (HCu) in sites with 100%-70% of vegetation cover was only 0.79, it was classified as a sensitive element. However, K, S and Zn, whose concentrations in L. chinensis were significantly related to those of N, exhibited no homeostatic characteristics. These results suggest that when seeking to treat saline-alkali stress, it is important to add fertilizers containing K, S, and Zn to avoid growth limitation. Na+, an ion associated with high soil alkalinity, exhibited weak homeostasis in L. chinensis even in sites with only 40%-10% of vegetation cover. When soil Na exceeded 16000 mg/kg, the homeostasis mechanism of L. chinensis appeared to be overwhelmed, resulting in rapid and probably harmful accumulation of Na. Proper control of N content can alleviate the toxicity of Na stress in L. chinensis and enhance its Na tolerance. Together, these results suggest that combined fertilization with N, K, S, Zn and Cu should be applied to improve grasslands growth. The results of this study can provide a reference basis for sustainable grassland management

The international discourse on the right to development and the need to reinvigorate its implementation

The world is currently at an ebb for realizing the Right to Development (RtD). Weakening of multilateralism, de-globalization, the scars left by the COVID-19 pandemic, misinterpretation and dilution of the RtD, and inertia to reform international governance are among the multitude of reasons for this phenomenon. However, the need for a better, more inclusive and greener recovery, and the efforts necessary to attain the 2030 Agenda, have provided the international community an opportunity to reinvigorate the realization of the RtD. These efforts have shown the great relevance of RtD to promote a people-centred and fairer development process and the need for an international enabling environment in order to promote the kind of development we want. This paper reviews the history of international discourse on RtD including major milestones, main divisive issues between the global South and the North, the evolution of voting patterns on intergovernmental outcomes, existing legal and political issues currently being discussed, the various mechanisms on the RtD, and recommendations on the way forward to revitalize the implementation of RtD at the 35th anniversary of the Declaration on Right to Development

Reinvigorating the Non-Aligned Movement for the post-COVID-19 era

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was born out of the need felt by newly emerging post-colonial nations not to be compelled to be part of any single political or military bloc during the Cold War. As the international community finds itself once again in the midst of heightened geo-political tensions, the principles of non-alignment have seen a resurgence in the Global South, providing NAM with the potential to become a major force in the configuration of a new international order. Over six decades after its inception, the NAM stands at a crucial juncture, where consolidating non-alignment among developing countries can help build solidarity, promote collaboration and defend the interest of developing countries in the reconfiguration of global governance. Dealing with these challenges requires unprecedented levels of international cooperation, both North-South and South-South. As the grouping of non-aligned countries, the NAM could play an important role against global fragmentation, build solidarity, and strengthen multilateralism. This paper therefore looks at the role and position of the NAM at this time, and how it can be reinvigorated to address the most critical challenges facing its Member States and other developing countries today. Considering the history, evolution and important achievements of the NAM, the paper provides some proposals that can support NAM Member States in their recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and make progress in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development