Blame game no help to US
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China Daily, January 11, 2012
China's resilient trade data is much-needed good news for the world economy, which is threatened by the lingering European debt troubles and uncertainties arising from the forthcoming US election.
US policymakers who are reportedly planning to create a government task force to monitor China over trade and currency issues, should take a hard look at the latest Chinese trade figures.
That does not mean they should misuse these statistics to help score political points with voters by blaming China for the woes of the US economy. Instead, they should seriously reflect on whether their country can learn and benefit from China's progress in rebalancing its growth model for sustainable development.
The latest statistics show that China's trade volume increased 22.5 percent year-on-year to hit a record $3.4 trillion in 2011. This is clear evidence that the world's second-largest economy has made its fair contribution to global trade growth in a year when such growth is badly needed in order to cushion the world economy against the turbulence stemming from many developed economies.
Better, China's overall trade surplus fell to $155 billion last year, down 14.5 percent from a year earlier, which is the lowest level since 2005. As a percentage of GDP, the country's trade surplus thus fell to 2.2 percent of GDP in 2011 according to an estimate by the International Monetary Fund, compared with 3.1 percent in 2010 and a high of 7.5 percent in 2007.
Given that China has largely maintained its growth momentum, such a remarkable reduction in China's dependence on net exports bears full testimony to the resolution and effectiveness of Chinese policymakers' rebalancing efforts.
The outbreak of the 2008 global financial crisis led to a consensus among Chinese officials that the country can no longer rely on export-led growth, and painful but necessary structural transformation of the economy is not only inevitable but also urgently needed.
The shrinking trade surplus as a percentage of GDP does not mean that endeavors to boost domestic consumption are no longer needed. But reduced dependence on exports can further strengthen Chinese confidence in consumption-led rebalancing.
For US policymakers genuinely concerned about their country's long-term economic health, they must realize that blaming China will not help lift the US economy out of the crisis, which was largely brought about by over-borrowing and over-spending.
More importantly, if China can rebalance itself by shifting from exports to domestic demand, why should US officials not tap into the resilience of the US economy to pursue export-led growth?
Make no mistake, getting tougher on China is simply not the way to get serious about a lasting US recovery.
