China-Watcher Italian · @TrutherPandemic
18th Nov 2020 from TwitLonger
China is pivoting to a more consumption and importation oriented country
China is pivoting to a more consumption and importation oriented country to strive for a more peaceful coexistence with the West and the rest of the world. China will endeavor to become more western, ie, becoming more cicada and less ant.
China is adjusting its policy. The traditional policy to stimulate an economy is three thronged, ie, investment, consumption and exportation. This is what China has been adhering to in the past decades. Now China is pivoting to an importation and consumption oriented society. Importation of goods from all over the world is being actively encouraged.
The immense trade deficit incurred by the US is the cause of the intense persistent animosity of the US leading to the trade war which further leads to the current anti-China hysteria. During the trade negotiations, US urged the Chinese not to work so hard and not to save so much money. Chinese people should be encouraged to consume American products. Even though such an expectation from the US seemed to be fantasist at the moment and was rejected for consideration, now China is reversing its position. Chinese people and companies are being encouraged to consume more foreign products albeit for the sake of world peace.
The Chinese way of living is not exactly particular to the Chinese. Working hard saving money are also protestant values, except that the
Chinese people adhere more massively and more intensely to the austere protestant values. Traditionally, Chinese work hard, save all their money, never spend anything beyond the strict necessary. Chinese are the stereotype ants and the Westerners are the stereotype cicadas. And exactly as is depicted in the fairy tale, the cicadas reap the ruin and the ants enjoy the fruits of their virtue (which by the way makes them smug and righteous). This time, the different anti-Covid19 performances between the East and West exemplify the stereotype between ants and cicadas.
No wonder the angry cicadas are inventing horror genocide stories about the ants. Even though the ants are glorified in the fairy tale in order to teach children the virtue of delayed gratification, in reality the ants people are hated. They get the better of everyone and gloat about it. They are usually boring sullen lack luster and have zero charisma. Even if they come out of the calamities of life situations fine, nobody wants to imitate their life style. This time during the pandemic, Chinese families lost their incomes for several months but that's a bearable burden for most Chinese families, because each family has a nest egg. This In turn has lessened considerably the fiscal pressure on the Chinese government which doesn't need to organize financial relief. That's typical ants reaping the fruit of virtue...
However, there seems to be no fun in the ants' life though virtuous. It's just endless drudgery. More and more Chinese people have realized that Chinese way of life is not sexy, cannot sell, doesn't enjoy soft power on the international stage. There's a famous book called "French women don't get fat" which sells very well. A Chinese woman immediately wrote the same "Why Chinese women don't get fat" which doesn't sell at all. Even if a Chinese woman is thin, no Western woman would aspire to be a Chinese woman. Even though French women are catching up with their Anglo-Saxon sisters and are getting fatter and fatter, that doesn't matter. Every female in the western world still aspires to become a French woman deemed to be the sexiest, most slim, most refined, most cultured etc... French women have prestige... albeit in people's imagination.
Besides China now has monopolized the metier of the ants, ie, industrial manufacturing. As a natural consequence, even if the western cicadas want to be ants, they can't be. They can't earn money through honest labor. There are no jobs left. The Westerners are condemned to be extravagant cicadas, borrowing money to consume, spending the money of tomorrow to enjoy the present. Being barred from ants' life and condemned to being cicadas also earns China a lot of hostility and hatred. Distribution of role has become rigid and locked.
Saying China doesn't share the western values is true insofar as ants don't share the values of cicadas.
China's infinitely more subtle, intelligent and clairvoyant strategists are taking the bull by the horns and have decided to do a turn around.
So China now will transition to a global power of importation and consumption, a role traditionally assumed by the USA. The reduction of trade deficit will likely reduce the hostility of the US. There are no eternal enemies but eternal interests.
China's peaceful philosophy has laid down the rule that China's rising should benefit the whole world instead of being a threat and liability to humanity. China's strategists are pondering over the non-sustainability of China's model of producing but non or little consuming. The trade war with the US has woken China up. In order to become an accepted global power China needs to consume and import more and thus allow other countries the opportunity of being productive ants as well. China should strike a balance between its imports and exports. In history, trade deficit often leads to war. Britain knocked open China's door to thrust opium upon China in order to redress the trade deficit created by Britain buying tea massively from China whereas latter didn't want to buy anything from Britain. If China didn't buy willingly, then China shall be forced to buy the worst most toxic products, ie, drugs.
Currently the looming cold/hot war with the US undoubtedly partly stems from the immense trade deficit. Strategy of pivoting to importation is deescalation of tension.
Moreover, importation also has a number of other benefits: 1/contribute to the internationalization of Yuan 2/raise the competitiveness of domestic companies 3/ increase the consumer choice of the Chinese public 4/contribute to more integration and interdependence between China's and other countries' economies.
So importation and consumption will be the two important characteristics added to China's Socialism with Chinese characteristics.
This is what China has done to come out of impasse with the US/West. What will the Biden administration do?