China is one of the world greatest emerging economies, which comes with a wide range of opportunities for foreign investment. In as much as the country possess a huge potential and ability for economic growth that offers access to large markets as well as considerable savings in terms of labor costs, evaluation of cultural and political must be done as they pose uncertainty and create risks for foreign investors. After opening to the global world and reforms of more than a quarter century, China's economy was the second largest in the world in 2005, when measured in terms of purchasing power parity.
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The Chinese government is largely known for their role in quadrupling the gross domestic product of China by 2020 as well as doubling the country's per capita gross domestic product. Since 1978, reduction in the role of the government and widespread global market economy mechanisms has been seen in China translating into economic growth. The government encourages dual economic structures which evolved from a socialist to the centrally planned market economy and to the socialist economic market system. This is sometimes known as a market economy marked with socialist elements or characteristics.
The rapid economic growth and industrial developments in China as the result of; productivity increases, huge foreign investments, and technological advancements. After more than twenty five years of people's communes, it was eliminated in 1984, and township-collective-household system was introduced in the agricultural sector. At this point, private ownership for assets of production became legal, even though some industrial facilities and non-agricultural facilities were centrally planned and still owned by the state. China acceded to World Trade and government relaxed restraints on foreign trade. This paper will, therefore, examine the legal and political factors as well as religious and cultural factors that affect China's smart product supply chain.
Political and Legal Frameworks
The People's Republic of China is constitutionally a socialist state ruled by people's democratic dictatorship under the leadership of the working and grounded on the alliance of peasants and workers. The government comprises of the political party system and people's congress system which takes the form of political consultation and a multi-party cooperation under the Communist Party of China (CPC). The systems of regional ethnic autonomy, multi-party cooperation, self-governance within the primary levels of the society and people's congresses forms the fundamental and kernel frameworks of China's political system. The multi-party system of cooperation identifies the functions and the status of the Communist Party of China as well as other eight political parties in China's politics. It underlines the relations between the parties and the political life of the country before and during the electioneering period.
The government of China consists of political consultation and multi-party cooperation system under the leadership of Communist Party of China. This system of governance ensures that the only party in power in China is the CPC, and the other eight political parties actively participate in the management and planning the state affairs. This means that all parties, representatives, and mass organizations from various walks of life participate in the formulation of the country's essential issues and basic policies. This includes issues on economic, social, cultural, and political affairs of the state prior to the adoption of any decision or implementation of any primary policy. Best practices in China with regards to human rights and religious freedoms is also one the factors that greatly promoted investment and economic growth. China has over the recent past witnessed reduced cases of human rights abuses and violation of internationally acknowledged norms and practices. This is stemming with the government's intolerance of human rights abuses or dissent and enactment of stringent laws to offer legal safeguards for fundamental rights and basic freedoms. There are reports of reduced cases of torture, forced confessions, incommunicado detention, and mistreatment of prisoners and severe restrictions of freedom of assembly, press, religion, and speech among others.
One of the policies of China's government is the creative destruction of agricultural jobs through science that supercharged China's economy. Scientific technologies developed in the 20th century changed the agricultural jobs that were available for all possible good economic reasons. For instance, the innovation of the computers increasingly replaced jobs, such as repetitive production, clerical work and bookkeeping in the agricultural industry. To this extent science as a result of its problem solving and creativity nature propelled economic growth in China. It also ensured that they reduced political risk by ensuring that there was political stability that would encourage production of goods and services. This was also essential in that it reduced the risk of rampant inflation and currency devaluation as well as increased adequacy of insurance limits.
The government also worked to tirelessly to see they improved products supply chain by ensuring that there was reduced the risk of contract repudiation, expropriation, confiscation, and currency inconvertibility. This greatly encouraged growth of industries which Translated in the increased products supply chain, one of them being smart products. China companies became leaders in software and hardware technology for transmitting traffic on the corporate networks and the internet. The number of the employees was largely expanded in these companies and this saw an increase in products supply chain as well as revenues over the years.
Several companies in China adopted urban expansion strategy that saw the expansion of their branches across cities globally at a tremendous speed. However, these companies experience political and practical problems in its urban market expansion with calls for tighter regulations on land use and labor organizations. For example, regardless of all these challenges and opposition, Hong Kong Subway Systems and Intel did not give up on entering several global markets. This is because, instead of sparsely populated countries, they have embarked on countries and cities with densely populated businesses. The fact that they are not seeking tax incentives should not be a ground to oppose their expansion of urban markets. A store with appropriate design and size such as those to be constructed by Hong Kong Subway Systems was welcomed to a number of countries.
Culture and Religion
Cultural identities have a strong relationship with local roots. It displays local attachments to local contexts such as language, symbols and values. Cultural identity is never unproblematic and transparent as people always think. Arguably, instead of perceiving the identity as accomplished the fact, which is represented by the new cultural practices, identity should be perceived as a continuous production which is never complete. Cultural identity is always a process constituted within as opposed to outside representation. China has the largest population across the world, with approximately 1,133,682,501 people during the 2000 Census. This population has grown rapidly over the past ten years, and it is associated with reduced mortality rates. Although, the birth rate reduced as a result of the government policy, the total Chinese population is still enormous. The Concept of an individual being Chinese is not primarily based on the race, but the cultural concept. This refers to the ability to behave and speak like a Chinese and accept the system of cultural values of the Chinese. The people of China refer to them as descendants of Han. As a matter of precedence, almost all small ethnic groups that associated with Chinese adopted their culture. Despite, the legal guarantees in place to protect the culture and the rights of minority nationalities, this practice has tremendously continued. These guarantees protect the minority nationalities or cultures are directly expressed in China's administrative system structures. The Chinese government also recognizes only five religions, Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, and Taoism. The government always attempts to regulate worship and religious groups in China.
Therefore, companies in China had to make a decision on whether to standardize the marketing strategies globally to adapt to each culture and market separately. Although the world in integrating into a common marketplace, the needs of consumers vary from one foreign market and one group to another and the company will only achieve a good sale of the product if these needs are tailored to accordingly. Cultural and religious factors affect growth of urban centers and increase in non-industrial wage labor with a transformed rural labor market. In addition, women and the family benefited as the family size declined, and the life expectancy increased. Cultural and religious diversity led to a stratified working class and women played a greater role in reform activities, contemporary politics and labor force as compared to men during the industrial revolution.
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