1、外文题目： Why is China so Competitive? Measuring and Explaining Chinas Competitiveness 出 处： World Economy； Feb2006, Vol. 29 Issue 2, p95-122, 28p 作 者： Adams, F. Gerard Gangnes, ByronShachmurove, Yochanan 1. Introduction In the past decade, the export performance of the Chinese economy has been phenomena
2、l. The issue of Chinese competitiveness has expanded in scope from a regional question Why is China so competitive with respect to other East Asian exporters? to a worldwide question Why are Chinese goods so competitive in the world market? Some observers have expressed concern about the growing cen
3、tralisation of the worlds manufacturing production in East Asia, and particularly in China. At issue are the implications for manufacturing employment and wages in the United States, Europe and Japan, where a large fraction of Chinese exports is directed.There has also been worry about the deflation
4、ary implications of cheap Chinese exports on the advanced countries. In the United States, Chinas exchange rate and its implications for competition have become a political issue as the US trade deficit with China has risen above $100 billion. In East Asia, Chinas competitiveness is being seen as re
5、sponsible for shifts in production and foreign investment that have impeded growth in other countries in the region. The present debate over Chinese competitiveness is reminiscent of 1980s worries about the American competitive losses to Japan. Yet, there are some important differences. In the 1980s
6、, American concerns were of an increasingly wealthy Japanese economy that appeared poised to overtake the US as a leader in key technologies and in overall wealth and prestige. In the current situation, it is instead the multinational corporations of the United States,Japan and other economies who a
7、re shifting their own production into China either through foreign direct investment or outsourcing. The issues are less about technological supremacy than they are about the implications for developed country economies of a continuing outflow of investment and labour market displacements from the a
8、ssociated shifts in production and trade. Our primary concern will be about whether the phenomenon of Chinese competitiveness is primarily one of exchange rate undervaluation that can presumably be remedied by appreciation of the Chinese exchange rate. Or, alternatively, does Chinese competitiveness
9、 reflect more fundamental changes in the production possibilities of a new Chinese economy? This paper considers Chinas competitiveness, its definition and measurement. In the next section we look at Chinas success in capturing world export markets. We then turn to a conceptual discussion of competi
10、tiveness and the practical challenges involved in its measurement. Following sections look at empirical indicators of Chinese competitiveness. An evaluation section summarises findings and draws some tentative conclusions. 2. Chinese export performance We begin by asking whether China has indeed bee
11、n successful in its pursuit of international markets. In recent years, the record of Chinese exports has been spectacular, though cyclical. Chinese exports have expanded very rapidly, since 1990 at more than twice the rate of growth of world trade. Other East Asian countries have also shown rapid ex
12、port growth but, espite substantial devaluations, in recent years many have lagged behind China.As is clearly apparent in Figure 1, in recent years Chinese exports have grown much more rapidly than otherEast Asian countries exports, by 34.5 percent in 2003 and, apparently, at a similar rate in the f
13、irst half of 2004. An alternative way to evaluate the development of exports is to see them as a share of world trade. The results are striking. China (including Hong Kong) has shown a steadily increasing share of world exports to 8.9 per cent in 2003. Other East Asian countries show steady increase
14、s in their shares of world trade until 1995 and stable or slightly declining shares thereafter. Japan shows a growing market share until 1990, but loses share thereafter, presumably to East Asian competition. The United States shows substantial declines in market share (except in 19952000), and, in
15、relative terms, now plays a considerably smaller role in world export markets than in 1970. The composition of the exports of China and other East Asian countries provides some insight into the changing role of China in the world economy. Export composition reflects the traditional development ladde
16、r approach, starting with raw materials and foodstuffs in the lowest income countries, then increasing strongly in the manufactured mass production products and finally turning to high-tech and capital goods as the economys productive power matures. Among the East Asian countries, China is the regio
17、ns dominant exporter. (China alone accounts for one-third of the regions exports, over half if China and Hong Kong are combined.) Chinas exports of manufactured mass production products continue to increase rapidly: 6.9 per cent per year in line with world market growth, more than in other East Asia
18、n countries. High-technology exports were increasing at a rate of 15 percent per year and already represented a 43 percent (China and Hong Kong) share of 2001 East Asian high-tech exports even though China was not yet as technologically advanced as Korea or Singapore.2 Since 2001 these patterns have
19、 continued. A more detailed look is obtained by selecting sectors that can be called hightech and low-tech at the two-digit SITC level. High-tech exports from China like office machines, telecom, electrical machinery and parts have been growing much more rapidly than traditional Chinese export produ
20、cts like clothing and footwear, though the latter remain quantitatively important. Hong Kong and Korea also show very rapid growth for telecom and Malaysia and Singapore for ADP. The growing high-tech categories in China include a disproportionate share of assembly and of relatively simple products,
21、 such as PCs and cell phones as well as parts, rather than highly sophisticated complex capital goods and chips. Some of these exports represent a shift of production from neighbouring countries, especially Taiwan and South Korea where costs have been rising. Growth in the traditional sectors is generally more modest, though China shows rapid growth in the clothing category. It is not possible statistically to measure the qualitative improvements that have increased the competitiveness of Chinese products. But, changes in the range of
