Opinion

The Chinese locomotive

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-02-11 15:07

The rapid rise of China in recent years as a leading trade power has unfortunately aroused mixed feelings around the world in spite of its tremendous benefits for foreign consumers.

To find a scapegoat for their economic woes deepened by the global recession, some Western politicians have been trying to portray China as a mercantilist stealing their domestic jobs.

China's latest trade figures prove these kinds of accusation as simply untrue. In fact, the world appears to have good reason to put more faith than ever in the Chinese locomotive to help sustain the global recovery by adding to global demand.

Just as German statistics confirmed that China last year overtook this European economic powerhouse as the world's largest exporter, something unbelievable happened in China's trade sector last month.

China's exports jumped 21 percent in January from a year earlier, a bit lower than expected after beating forecasts to grow 17.7 percent in December.

That sort of growth is surely impressive given the already huge base of China's exports. Some Western media even rushed to conclude that it makes the case for China to revalue its currency. They insisted that it is the undervalued Chinese currency that fuels China's export growth.

But wait a minute. Aren't they missing the really big story when China's imports rocketed by a record 85.5 percent last month?

One should certainly not read too much into statistics for a month or a quarter. The different bases for comparison can mean different stories, though a flashing sign that can point to fundamental changes should not be ignored easily.

As a developing country with considerable comparative advantages in manufacturing, it is natural that Chinese exports account for a big part of the global pie in the era of economic globalization.

Yet, export growth alone is not enough to make China the driving force behind a sustainable global recovery. The huge potential of the Chinese market must be better tapped to provide a source of growth for both China and the global economy.

The record monthly import growth that China registered in January may be insufficient to prove a domestic consumption binge. But the combination of such an imports surge with record sales of more than 1.6 million automobiles in the first month of this year can speak volumes about China's sizzling consumer market.

So stop blaming China for exporting so much. Let us hope the rise of China as a leading importer can continue to accelerate and make this rapidly growing economy a balanced locomotive for the world economy.