China is the second largest economy in the world after the US. This is measured by both nominal GDP ($4.99 trillion), and by purchasing power ($8.77 trillion). The Peoples Republic of China, as it is officially called, is the world’s fastest growing major economy in the world with an average growth rate of 10% for the past 30 years. China is also the second largest trading nation in the world as well as being the largest exporter and second largest importer of goods.
China has the largest population in the world with approximately 1,338,612,968 inhabitants. With more than 70% of the population being ‘economically active’ i.e. at a working age (15-64) this, as well as having a large population, means they have one of the best production factors. Labour. They have a large youthful and educated population and this is perfect for foreign investors and multi corporations as it is cheap and there are plenty of them. This labour force is also fuelling China’s rapid economic growth and therefore its population needs to be thought of very carefully. For example, an unhappy labour force across the country can cause civil unrest which is when the population rises up which happened in the early 20th century. The worst that could happen from a civil unrest is the country will become very unstable leaving its trading partners furious and possibly grinding the world’s economy to a stand still.
As China produces so much and exports to countries across the world, it is hard to find a country with no weakness and with China; their weakness is the high demand of raw materials. Its demand is massive and the impact of this on the environment is even bigger. So why don’t the West and other countries try and condemn their environmental action. Well because without China, no one would have anything quite simply. So with China increasing its growth of its economy, so will its demand for raw material increase and there will have to