When speaking of China, using the word "big" is often an understatement. In terms of population, economic growth, infrastructure, and other factors, "huge" might be a more appropriate word. A recent Forbes article, Just How Big is China? Bigger Than You Think, discusses how big China really is and concludes that its "way bigger than you think."
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However, bigger isn't always better as the Forbes article acknowledges. China faces many of the same challenges as most countries, but due to its immense size and the extremely rapid rate of development of the past several decades, the enormity of the problems posed is unprecedented. The longer I live in China, the more conscious I become of the scope of many of these problems and how difficult it will be to cope with them effectively.
As anyone who's lived in China knows, pollution is extreme in many of China's big cities. Air and water quality are both very poor, posing serious health threats and potential sources of epidemics. Poor product quality and safety as well as working conditions for many employed in China's factories are also frequently cited problems. Further, the increasingly extreme disparity in wealth in this nation of over 1.3 billion people is a gigantic threat to continued stability. Revolution by the masses is by no means unheard of in China as evidenced by the Mao-led revolution of the 20th century and numerous earlier ones during China's imperial history.
Of all the problems, many Chinese people would probably consider corruption to be the most serious and I tend to agree. Rampant corruption among officials at virtually all levels of government as well as business hinders efforts to deal with all of the other problems threatening China's future. New Chinese president Xi Jinping (习近平) seems to understand the threat that corruption poses and has made it clear that his top priority is to deal with it. From what I've read and observed, it seems that he's already taken some steps to curb corruption, at least at local government levels. How effective these efforts will be remains to be seen and much more will need to be done over the long-term to change the acceptance of corruption that has become pervasive part of Chinese society.
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There's an interesting followup article, "What It Takes for China to be No. 1," at http://www.forbes.com/sites/panosmourdoukoutas/2013/04/01/what-it-takes-for-china-to-be-no-1/
ReplyDeletecool, really a great article written by you.
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