THE WORLD IN 2010: CHINA CONTINUES ITS UNSTOPPABLE ECONOMIC CHARGE
Alistair Dawber
Alistair Dawber
The Independent, January 2, 2010
China and six other South-east Asian countries yesterday toasted the inauguration of the biggest free trade area in the world, when the Association of South East Asian Nations, or Asean-6, was formally launched.
Covering nearly 2 billion people in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, along with China, Asean-6's stated aim is to eliminate tariffs on almost all traded goods between its members.
China, by far the biggest member, holds the whip hand in the bloc, with some voicing concerns that the country's manufacturers, who have become the engine behind the world's economy for a number of years, will force overseas competitors out of business. Indeed, four members of Asean have opted not to join the founding six countries in the free trade area. Vietnam and Cambodia, for example, are only due to join in five years' time.
The launching of Asean-6 further demonstrates China's growing and seemingly unstoppable rise as a global economic superpower, however, and even if 2009 was benign by Beijing's recent history, by Western standards growth in the world's most populous nation was breathtaking. The World Bank predicted in June that the planet's third biggest economy (behind the US and Japan) would grow by 7.2 per cent in 2009 (the Chinese themselves predicted a slightly more impressive 8 per cent), a marked improvement on the "disappointing" 6.1 per cent of GDP growth recorded in the first quarter of last year, which was China's worst three-month performance since 1990.
China and six other South-east Asian countries yesterday toasted the inauguration of the biggest free trade area in the world, when the Association of South East Asian Nations, or Asean-6, was formally launched.
Covering nearly 2 billion people in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, along with China, Asean-6's stated aim is to eliminate tariffs on almost all traded goods between its members.
China, by far the biggest member, holds the whip hand in the bloc, with some voicing concerns that the country's manufacturers, who have become the engine behind the world's economy for a number of years, will force overseas competitors out of business. Indeed, four members of Asean have opted not to join the founding six countries in the free trade area. Vietnam and Cambodia, for example, are only due to join in five years' time.
The launching of Asean-6 further demonstrates China's growing and seemingly unstoppable rise as a global economic superpower, however, and even if 2009 was benign by Beijing's recent history, by Western standards growth in the world's most populous nation was breathtaking. The World Bank predicted in June that the planet's third biggest economy (behind the US and Japan) would grow by 7.2 per cent in 2009 (the Chinese themselves predicted a slightly more impressive 8 per cent), a marked improvement on the "disappointing" 6.1 per cent of GDP growth recorded in the first quarter of last year, which was China's worst three-month performance since 1990.
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