TPT March 2010

G lobal M arketplace

China’s performance is noteworthy less for the margin by which it surpassed Germany than as an indication of its rebound as an exporter. After 13 months during which falling demand from the West imposed the biggest setback in decades on China’s export- led growth, the decline has been arrested. Huang Guohua, a GAC statistician, said on state television CCTV, “We can say that China’s export enterprises have completely emerged from their all-time low in exports.” Whether or not Mr Huang’s ringing declaration of 10 January is entirely warranted, the latest figures do manifest a remarkably resilient export sector at the end of a year in which total Chinese trade fell 13.9% from 2008. The retardant effect on the broader Chinese economy was mitigated by Beijing’s ample ($586bn) and promptly applied stimulus. Record spending on infrastructure projects propelled the economy to 8.9% growth in the third quarter of 2009, keeping China well on track to meet its 8% annual growth target. Writing in the Hindu (10 January), Beijing correspondent Ananth Krishnan noted that Chinese economists had in recent months voiced increasing concern that the massive government spending might exacerbate imbalances in the economy in the long term. The fear is for overcapacity in some industries and bubbles in the property markets. But, he wrote, “Notwithstanding the concerns, officials here [in Beijing] stressed last week that current policies would remain in place.”

Ad_TPT_2010 01.01.1970 1:23 Uhr Seite 1 A 17.7% jump, to $130.7bn, in Chinese exports in December pushed China ahead of Germany as the world’s top exporter. According to the General Administration of Customs (GAC), in Beijing, the December data raised China’s total exports for 2009 to $1.2tn, as against the $1.17tn estimated for Germany by the Berlin-based foreign trade organisation BGA. Science Monitor made plain that considerations of cost must not rule discussion of the method, for these reasons: “More than half of the carbon needed to be cut from human activity could come from CCS. Half of US electricity comes from coal. The fastest, easiest route to rid it of greenhouse gas emissions is by carbon capture.” The venerable Monitor is well qualified to hold such an opinion. After a century of continuous publication in the US, in April 2008 it became the first national newspaper in the US to cut costs by abandoning its weekday print edition for exclusively online publication. Trade Though largely symbolic, China’s edging-out of Germany as the world’s No 1 exporter confirms Beijing in its satisfaction with economic stimulus

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