The Rise of a New Power
A Communist economic juggernaut emerges to challenge the West
For all its talk about market magic, China's overpopulated state sector is a massive job bank compared with western governments, which leaves some of the Beijing's byzantine ministries woefully inefficient. One Indian software supplier, for instance, tried to sell the Chinese government a program to automate parts of the state-owned railroad industry, which employs 20 million people. The idea flopped. "Greater efficiency creates a social problem," explains an executive for a major American software company. "Yes, 20 million are inefficient, but a more efficient system lops off heads."
If China's leaders truly aim to create the Chinese century, the Communist Party itself will probably have to recede into history. One scenario outlined by the National Intelligence Council: an "Asian way of democracy" with elections at the local level and a looser central government. Some think the party is already irrelevant. "I don't think communism really exists anymore," says a former senior official at the Bank of China. "At a certain point, being a party member is a burden. If you're related to the party, you're not doing business." And if you're not doing business, you're not cutting it in China.
More Online. U.S. News and the Levin Institute have assembled a group of experts to respond to your inquiries about China. Questions can go to china@usnews.com.
China's economy is expected to surpass Japan's by 2020, becoming the second largest in the world.
China has 16 of the world's most polluted cities.
In China, there are an estimated 2 million people whose net worth is at least $40 million.
China had 269 million cellphone users in 2003. There'll be 500 million in '08.
What Drives China
Its 1.3 billion people have launched an unprecedented economic boom. Here's what helps fuel the growth:
Gross domestic product
2000 $1.1 tril.
2005 $1.6 tril.
Milken Institute, World Bank
Foreign direct investment
2000 $38 bil.
2004 $55 bil.
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
Internet users
2000 22.5 mil.
2005 94 mil.
www.internetworldstats.com
Energy consumption
Coal 66 pct.
Oil 23 pct.
Hydro power 8 pct.
Natural gas 3 pct.
China map
[map labels]
Beijing Population 7 million
Tianjin Population 5 million, Manufacturing
Shanghai Population 10 million, Manufacturing, textiles
Wuhan Population 4 million, Textiles, natural gas reserves
Hong Kong Population 7 million, Manufacturing, textiles
[key]
Manufacturing
Textiles
Coal production (50 million + tons/year)
Oil fields (3.4 million barrels a day)
Natural gas reserves (53.3 trillion cubic feet)
0 MILES 200
[labels]
Lanzhou
Xi'an
Chengdu
Chongqing
Kunming
Taiyuan
Guangzhou
Hangzhou
Nanjing
Shenyang
Harbin
Dalian
Three Gorges Dam
Russia
Mongolia
Nepal
India
Bhutan
Bangladesh
Burma
Laos
Vietnam
Taiwan
Japan
South Korea
North Korea
Yellow Sea
0 MILES 200
Sources: State of China Atlas, International Petroleum Encyclopedia, National Geographic Family, Reference Atlas of the World, United Nations, Thomas Brinkhoff: www.citypopulation.de
Graphic by Stephen Rountree and Danny Dougherty-- USN&WR
Research by Philippe Moulier
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