Introduction
There are many countries around the world that were able to portray their significance through various ways and expressing their global position, which can be measured using factors that are present in core countries. These may include their ability to control the global market and at the same time, benefit from its advantages. Thus, these countries are wealthy due to their broad resources, combined with favorable location, as to compare with other nations. China holds many characteristics that many other countries do not. Thus, these could be the reason that China could become a core society. The purpose of this writing is to analyze China’s global setting through presentation of the country’s industrialized economy and other aspects that are related to its status as a stable country. We argue that China, along with its economic and social transformation, can become a core society.
China in the 20th Century
The fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911 gave new way for China’s Nationalist Party, otherwise known as Kuomintang (University of Minnesota, n.p.). Years have passed and the communist party established its power towards obtaining numerous changes in the country. The late 1950s enabled the country to embark its acceleration of its economic growth. In fact, many farmers who do not have knowledge when it comes to industrialism were required to be employed in steel manufacturing. However, the agricultural industry during this time had its worse status, leading to starvation and death. Having the characteristic of a core country does not mean that one did not go through hardships and challenges. This event in China’s economy and industrialization has added to its foundation, as the Chinese people were able to develop ideologies towards a more stable course of the economy. Deng Xiaoping’s government in 1978 enabled the country to get involved in Western trade as well as to develop technologies that improved the country’s computer industry (University of Minnesota, n.p.). Similar to other core countries such as the United States and other European countries, China went to a stage when it needed its government intervention in order to make changes for the benefit of the country’s economy through industrialization.
The Dark View of China’s Economic Success
There is no doubt that China’s economy is one of the most successful and strongest on a global basis. However, there were claims showing that there things that are quite worrying in terms of how some individuals contribute to the country’s economic success. For instance, one successful businessman stated his side about the pressure in bribing the local officials in order to make the business happen (pbs.org). It may be just minor incidents, but these events should not be tolerated as they could be the reason for the country’s failure to maintain its core characteristics. Thus, these could also be treated as underlying issues that can be resolved by good governance. In general, China’s economic transformation may have also affected the transformation of the society’s mind setting, which can now be similar to the West’s fast-phase standard of living that enables economic development.
The Global Economic Setting
The global economy is being controlled by two forces, which are Regionalization and Globalization (Simon, p.13). These two forces are spreading in today’s global economy. Regionalization refers to economic policies that were designed only for the member countries of a specific group in order to increase their economic interaction with each other. On the other hand, globalization refers to the integration of both the markets and the industries of different countries. Thus, it connotes competition between the countries in terms of global trade. China, however, can be viewed as part of these two forces. The country is bale to have an open trade between different countries such as Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and other countries in Asia. In addition, China is able to extend its global trade with European countries as well as the Americas. Having this ability to meet their trading countries’ demands for numerous products, China could seem to become a core country due to its competency when it comes to global trade partnership. This is one of the economic practices that even the early Chinese people have been involved with. Moreover, the Chinese economy’s integration with Asia’s major economies may have enabled the country to become interdependent, especially with the regional economy’s essential segments. Thus, its penetration to European and American markets has increased its stability with the help of its society’s common goal, which is to do business.
The Rural Industrialization and Agriculture
Both small-town and rural industrialization in China are the distinctive features of the country’s economic growth ever since the Open Door Policy was established in 1980s (Bradbury, Kirkby, and Guanbao p. 204). This event enabled Chinese people to become more competitive in terms of doing business on a small-scale basis. The characteristics of these businesses could be some of the most advanced in many provinces. However, such economic progress may have affected the country’s environmental awareness. Pollution in the country has increased and many workers lost their interest in working with the agricultural industry. As a result, the government addressed the environmental issue by imposing tax incentives in order to limit the environmental impact of the industrialization. To date, there are still many industries that are generating pollution in the country, but the effort to reduce the industrial pollution remains through the help of the government and the Chinese people. Although different views have been cited from many Chinese people in regards to the pollution, the collective characteristics of the society play important roles in creating a core country like China. One of the major environmental issues that are evident to China is the environmental impact related to the growth as well as industrialization of both villages and small towns in Chinese rural areas.
The agriculture in China’s Industrialization is historically significant to the country’s current agricultural sector. The collectivization of farm lands disabled the peasants to have their own, but was redistributed after in 1980s after Chairman Mao’s death. From then on, former peasant families have already farming their own lands and abolished the rural bureaucracy (Kueh, p.701). Such historical event enabled the growth Chinese agriculture, hence increased the peasants’ income. Thus, it gradually ended the widespread poverty and malnutrition that affected many Chinese people.
Conclusion
The collective historical events of China in relation to its economic and social growth serve as significant characteristics of a core country. The struggle and success of the people and the economy have gone through extensive challenges, which can be factors as to why China can become a core society. The transformation that was employed by the Chinese Government, along with its people enabled the development of fundamental characteristics of the country. Perhaps, the question should remain as to whether China can become a core society, but rather, when and how this country became a core society.
Works Cited
Bradbury, Ian, Richard Kirkby, and Shen Guanbao. "Development and Environment: The Case of Rural Industrialization and Small-Town Growth in China." Ambio 25.3 (1996): 204-209. Web. 10 Jan. 2016. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/4314454>.
Kueh, Y. Y. "Mao and Agriculture in China's Industrialization: Three Antitheses in a 50-Year Perspective." The China Quarterly 187 (2006): 700. Web. 10 Jan. 2016. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/20192660>.
Public Broadcasting Service. "Watch The Full Program Online | Young And Restless In China | FRONTLINE | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2016. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/youngchina/view/>.
Simon, Denis F. "China in the World Economic System." Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science 38.2 (1991): 12-29. Web. 10 Jan. 2016. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/1173875>.
