China case study Flashcards
What is China’s population like?
Exceeds 1 billion people
How much of China’s energy needs does coal provide?
75%
What is the population of Guangdong?
94.5 million
Between what years did coal consumption double?
1977-1999
What does the burning of coal release into the air?
Sulphur dioxide and particulates
How much do some Chinese cities exceed the WHO guidelines for air quality?
10 times
How tall was the Three Gorges Dam?
600 feet high
How wide was the Three Gorges Dam?
1.4 miles wide
How much of China’s energy was the Three Gorges Dam designed to provide?
Tenth
What is believed to be the change for China’s economy between the years 2010 - 2020?
Believed that the economy will double further from $6 trillion to $12 trillion
What did Deng Xiaoping’s 1978 market reforms aim to do?
Aimed to raise standards of living by gradually moving away from a command economy to a more market based one
What did a more market based economy result in?
China was opened to international trade and foreign direct investment
What was established in 1980?
Number of Special Economic Zones were established in the south, including 3 in the Guangdong Province
What happened in 1984?
14 coastal cities were also given SEZ status, including Guangzhou
What did China extend in 1985?
Extended open coastal areas by creating 5 open economic zones
What has the Pearl River Delta become?
Powerhouse of China’s export led industrial growth
How have regions like PRD become prosperous?
By making goods such as electronic equipment, clothing, shoes and toys for the export market
What did further reforms in the 1990’s do?
Opened the Shanghais region (including river cities in the Yangtse Valley) to overseas investment
What has been created in several large and medium sized cities?
Free trade, economic and technological and high tech zones
What % of China’s GDP does the private sector generate?
70%
What is the average population density in Guangdong?
486 persons per km2
What area does Guangdong cover?
Covers an areas slightly bigger than England and Wales
What 3 things does Guangdong owe its economic success to?
Government policies gave provincial capital, Guangzhou, open city status and PRD an open economic zone
Guangdong’s coastal location and its proximity to the economic hub of Hong Kong. Both have made the province an attractive target for foreign and domestic investment
Population - provides large workforce
Who is the major investor in Guangdong?
Hong Kong
Name 4 TNC’s that operate in Guangdong
Pepsi
Coca-cola
Toyota
Mitsubishi
What was the GDP per capita in the PRD?
$5144 - almost 2 and a half times the provincial average
In 2006 what % of Guangdong’s GDP did the PRD account for?
82%
What % of Gunagdong’s population live in towns and cities?
60%
In Shenzhen how big were disposable incomes?
4 times greater and rural districts
What are the urbanisation rates a year and what is driving it?
5-6% a year
Fuelled by rural to urban migration
How many of Guangdong’s cities have no sewage treatment plants?
3/4
How polluted is the PRD downstream from Guangzhou?
It is now lifeless
Since 2005, what have the cities of Foshan and Guangzhou?
Spent large sums of money to improve water quality
Where is air pollution the worst?
Peaks in winter months and is highest in the northwestern parts of the PRD
When do sulphur dioxide levels rise above safe levels?
For several months of the year in Foshan and Guangzhou
For how many days is Guangzhou affected by brown smog from the cities motor vehicles?
130 days a year
What are average wages like in China?
Around $1 an hour
How are many factory workers paid?
Paid $107 for an 8 hour day, 5 days a week
What conditions do factory workers normally work in?
Sleep in dormitories attached to factory
Work in conditions damaging for their health
What does economic development in western provinces result in?
Labour shortages as it reduces the amount of young migrant workers
What is happening to the attraction of China and the PRD
Attractiveness as a place for low-cost manufacturing is decreasing rapidly
Where are major international companies shifting to?
Shifting overseas to lower-cost locations such as Bangladesh and Vietnam
What path is China’s government beginning to follow?
Following the path of South Korea, Taiwan and other NIC’s, moving away from low-tech, labour intensive industries like clothing and leather goods and into high tech industry, software and services
Give an example of a pointer to the future
Xian high tech industries development zone in Shaanxi province in northeast China
What area does the Xian development area cover?
35km2
What does the Xian development area include?
One of China’s biggest technology parks
Houses 7500 companies
Supported by more than 100 uni’s that produce 120,000 graduates a year - half in computer sciences alone
What is the Xian development area also the centre of?
Centre of China’s aerospace industry and the birthplace of the country’s space program
How many days of are workers allowed?
1 a month
What are workplace deaths rates like?
12 times higher than those of Britain
What happens to workers in Shenzhen?
13 factory workers a day lose a finger or an arm
