The Future of China’s Growth

The slowdown of China’s economy has captured the headlines in recent weeks. Whether it is a permanent or temporary adjustment, the Chinese authorities have much work to do in laying the groundwork for strong economic performance in the medium and long term.

This illustration is by Paul Lachine and comes from <a href="http://www.newsart.com">NewsArt.com</a>, and is the property of the NewsArt organization and of its artist. Reproducing this image is a violation of copyright law.Despite extraordinary growth since the start of its transition to a market economy in 1979, China is facing serious challenges simultaneously: rising inequality, large and growing levels of environmental degradation, stubborn external imbalances, and an aging society.

Fortunately, China’s 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) recognizes the need to deepen market-oriented reform, change the country’s development model, and focus on the quality of growth, structural reforms, and social inclusion to overcome the rural-urban divide and stem the rise in income inequality. In line with this bold, long-term approach, a new report, China 2030: Building a Modern, Harmonious, and Creative High-Income Society, proposes reforms that my country needs to develop a mature, well-functioning market economy by 2030.

My Little Beijing

The enormity of China is often gauged by the grandiosity of its architecture: ‘great’ cannot even begin to describe the Great Wall, and the rampant construction of skyscrapers attests to the growth of an already staggering population. And then there are the sensational stories of China’s technological evolution, its wild goals of teleportation and lunar exploration, all demonstrating China’s ability to pump unsurpassable manpower into any endeavor to turn its ideas into reality.

Despite the insinuation of its name, “My Little Beijing,” a video developed by Pixcube Animation Studio, captures the vastness of China’s capital while also grounding the city as a specific place, a home to millions of people and their stories. Through tilt-shift photography, everything from scenic tourist destinations to small private rooftops and oft-concealed construction sites appear in miniature. While the architecture is stunning, the real magic is in trying to contemplate how so many people, cycles, flows and exchanges can co-exist in a single place.

China rising: Is Popular Revolution Innevitable?

It would be a brave man who would predict real political change anytime soon in China.

In the sensitive run-up to next fall’s Communist Party Congress, and its once-in-a-decade leadership handover, the authorities will be especially vigilant in their battle to keep China “harmonious.” That means stifling dissonant voices through censorship, arrests, and other familiar tools.

And yet there are unmistakable signs of ferment in Chinese society as it digests the phenomenal economic achievements of the past 30 years. Whether that ferment results in flammable gases is one of the key questions surrounding China’s future.

Report: Half of China’s millionaires want to leave

Nearly half of Chinese millionaires are thinking about leaving the country, while 14% have or are in the process of applying for emigration, according to a Hurun Research Institute and the Bank of China report.

Their joint “Private Banking White Paper 2011” talked to individuals with assets of more than 10 million yuan (US$1.57 million) in18 cities to find out how China’s super rich manage their wealth. The average asset holdings of the 980 surveyed are 60 million yuan (US$9.44 million), with the average age of 42.

Where do China’s millionaires want to move? North America is the top choice. The United States is the most popular immigration destination for Chinese millionaires, attracting 40% of the respondents who are interested in leaving China, followed closely by Canada (37%) followed by Singapore and Europe.