Balancing China’s Economy is Unnecessary

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In The Media

Balancing China’s Economy is Unnecessary

All successful development stories, from the United States to Korea, involved the same unbalanced growth trajectory China is now on, and they only rebalanced once they reached high income.

By Yukon Huang

Published on Dec 27, 2013

Source: China View

Carnegie’s Yukon Huang appeared on China View to discuss his perspective on China’s unbalanced growth process. Huang argued that all economies that have successfully reached high income status, including the United States, Korea, and Japan, did so through unbalanced growth processes of high investment and low consumption. These success stories only became balanced after they reached high income states, which China will not reach until around 2020. He also pointed out that the fundamental goal of any economy is not simply GDP growth but improvement in living standards. This is partially accomplished through consumption growth and, despite consumption’s unusually small share of GDP, China has produced the most rapid growth of consumption of any country over the past three decades. Finally, Huang added that the key for maintaining sustainable growth going forward is improving productivity.

About the Author

Yukon Huang

Senior Fellow, Asia Program

Huang is a senior fellow in the Carnegie Asia Program where his research focuses on China’s economy and its regional and global impact.

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Economy East Asia China

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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