Economist, Dec 10, 2011

choi

The following three are in the latest issue of Economist magazine. The (1) is a "leader" (in the front pages of an issue) that precedes, and serves as an introduction or summary to, a full-length article.

(1) Ten years of China in the WTO |  Shades of Grey: It was right to let China in. Now the world’s biggest trader needs to grow up. Economist, Dec 10, 2011
http://www.economist.com/node/21541408
("But China’s sins should be put into perspective. In terms of global trade consumers everywhere have gained from cheap Chinese goods. Chinese growth has created a huge market for other countries’ exports. And China’s remaining barriers are often exaggerated. It is more open to imports than Japan was at the same stage of development, more open to foreign direct investment than South Korea was until the 1990s. Its tariffs are capped at 10% on average; Brazil’s at over 30%. And in China, unlike India, you can shop at Walmart, most of the time. As for the hurdles foreign firms face in China, they are disgraceful—but sadly no worse than in other developing countries.")

(2) China’s economy and the WTO |  All Change: In two articles, we examine how China has been altered by its entry into the WTO ten years ago. First, the economy. Second, the political impact. Economist, Dec 10, 2011.
http://www.economist.com/node/21541448

Note:
(a) The article states, "The World Trade Organisation (WTO), like many clubs, denies patrons the right of automatic readmission. Having quit the organisation’s predecessor shortly after the Communist revolution of 1949, China had to wait 15 long years to gain entry after reapplying in the 1980s. The doors finally opened on December 11th 2001."

(i) General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade. Notes in E Kwan Choi, ECON 355: Introduction to the World Economy. Department of Economics, Iowa State University, 2011.
http://www2.econ.iastate.edu/classes/econ355/choi/gatt.htm
(the last section: China and the GATT/WTO)
(ii) Ding Qingfen, Quest to Be Part of World Trade. China Daily, Dec 9, 2011.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2011-12/09/content_14236725.htm
("In early 1948, China was one of 23 signatories to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). However, upon the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the region of Taiwan announced that China would leave the GATT in March 1950, even though it didn't have the right to do so. The Chinese government has never recognized this announcement.")
(b) Regarding Kraft linerback.
(i) Kraft process
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraft_process
(a technology for conversion of wood into wood pulp consisting of almost pure cellulose fibers. The process entails treatment of wood chips with a mixture of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide, known as white liquor, that break the bonds that link lignin to the cellulose)
(ii) corrugated board = linerboard (top and bottom faces) + medium
http://www.correllconcepts.com/P ... ural%20_options.htm


(3) Chinese politics and the WTO  |  No Change: Hopes of sparking political change have come to nothing so far. Economist, Dec 10, 2011.
http://www.economist.com/node/21541461
A recent four-volume set of Mr Zhu’s speeches, including many not previously published, shows him to have shared hardliners’ concerns about perceived Western efforts to undermine Communist Party rule in China

Note:
(a) The article says Zhu Rongji "had no truck with such views."

truck (n): "close association or connection <will have no truck with crooks>"
, whcih has a different etymology than the "truck" as an automotive vehicle.
(b) CAO Siyuan  曹 思源
(c) HAN Deqiang/ Collision: the Globalisation Trap and China’s Real Choice
(i) 韩 德强 (北京航空航天大学经济管理学院)
(ii) 碰撞-全球化陷阱与中国现实选择. 经济管理出版社, 2000.