![]() ![]() While it showcases the skyline of Shanghai and other advancements (such as its high-speed rail system), poverty remains a reality for millions of Chinese households. Beijing’s recent diplomatic efforts toward Saudi Arabia and brokering a rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran arguably reflect its interest in enhancing the stability of its oil imports from the region.ĭomestic poverty will also affect China’s strategies. Notwithstanding its extensive domestic resources (such as coal, oil, and renewables), much of China’s energy will need to be imported, which in turn will affect its approach to the Middle East and other energy exporters, including Russia. Securing these larger amounts of energy is and will remain a major concern for Beijing’s decision-makers. This contrasts with advanced economies, such asthe United States., Japan, and the European Union, where energy consumption is projected to fall. The IEA projects that China, already the world’s largest energy user, will need to procure nearly 20 percent more by 2040. Consistent with its income level, China is still at a development stage where it relies on increasing energy use to power further economic growth. It is the world’s lone “hybrid superpower.”Įnergy is an area that illustrates this dynamic. In assessing China, it is important to recognize that it presents a unique situation: a country combining developed and developing country traits with global clout. ![]() Achieving the levels of Portugal and other advanced economies will require not only time, but continued success in maintaining robust growth. Similarly, while only 2 percent of Portugal’s population lived below the poverty threshold of $6.85 a day in 2019, the corresponding figure for China was more than 10 times bigger, at 25 percent. dollar terms, far from the income levels enjoyed in developed Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development economies notably, its GDP per capita is currently half that of Portugal and equates to the average income of the world population across all developed and developing countries. For example, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has estimated that it will take China until 2030 to provide basic clean cooking access to all. House vote-but this change won’t immediately erase its developing country aspects. Even its continuing heavy reliance on coal, a cheap but dirty fuel, is arguably a developing country trait that contrasts with the substantially lower shares achieved by advanced economies such as those of the European Union and the United States.Ĭhina is expected soon to graduate from “middle income” into “high income” under the World Bank country classification system-which arguably is part of the reasoning underlying the U.S. Indeed, China is acting very much like a wealthy global power.īut China also still exhibits various characteristics of a developing country, including a population of more than 200 million people without access to clean cooking technologies widespread pollution and a ranking under the Human Development Index-which focuses on health and education outcomes-of 79th out of 191 countries (scoring below, for example, Sri Lanka and Iran). and Russia) to the disquiet of its neighbors and others. China is projecting itself increasingly in international affairs, with the largest number of foreign postings (surpassing the United States) and repeatedly mobilizations of its military ( third behind the U.S. Earlier this year, French President Emmanuel Macron became another in a line of European leaders to visit China, soliciting closer business ties, while also hoping to encourage Beijing to exercise its influence on Moscow regarding the invasion of Ukraine. The truth about China’s status as a developing country is far more complex.Ĭhina has transformed itself from a low-income country in the 1990s into the world’s second-largest economy, with many attributes of a rich global power projecting its economic and diplomatic influence abroad. Indeed, from Africa to Latin America and even Europe, China is very much adopting the role of a rich global power.Īnd yet, China continues to exhibit many traits of a developing country, including in energy and other areas, and particularly outside the major urban centers most visible to foreigners. climate framework, and other international arrangements. House of Representatives recently voted unanimously that China should no longer be considered a “developing country.” A major motivation is to deny China the preferential treatment it receives as a developing country under the World Trade Organization, the U.N. ![]()
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