Directing of resources on home infrastructure puts China on international limelight
By Elias Mhegera, Beijing – Some of the factors which have caused a rapid economic development for China are its construction of a vibrant transportation home and abroad, and its cautious approach to international trade.
High speed train has changed the pattern of travels in China dramatically (photo courtesy)
Delivering a lecture to a group of African journalists at the Renmin University recently a distinguished international economics lecturer Prof. Huand Weiping said directing resources heavily to the home infrastructure has put China in a new international limelight.
The don critiqued that in some circumstances regional integration has been misused instead to sharing mutual benefit of the regional arrangements, but some external powers penetrate though this way they siphon and destabilize the whole bloc or the main targeted countries in that particular area.
He cautioned that member countries must plan together on what to produce and exchange through equitable trade arrangements. “It has become a common practice that in many of these arrangements one or two countries might be used in order to exploit the rest of the member countries,” He warned.
He gave two examples of the much cherished “Four Asian Tigers” namely Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. The don claims these were meant to destroy the main industrial players in Asia namely China and Japan at that time.
He critiqued that much media propaganda was done in order to facilitate this goal. Eventually Japan became a victim of circumstances. “It was through this ‘dirty game’ that some of these countries were allowed to use the under license of the industrial agents in order to disturb the trade pattern in this area,” he added.
He further argued that after having fulfilled this desire the focus now shifted to the new economic bloc of Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa (BRICS) after having shown a big economic muscle. It was in this way that now Brazil and Russia are in deep economic troubles.
He defended that it is after discovering these strategies that China has resolved to have a new pattern of co-operation whereby Africa is seen as a new reliable partner.
Air craft manufacturing in Shanghai by the COMAC company (photo by courtesy of COMAC)
However he admits that immediately after a revitalization of this co-operation through the Johannesburg December 2015 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOAC) there have been a lot of fussy about the nature of this co-operation.
He welcomed those who see this co-operation as a form of exploitation to visit China and see how a number of African people have migrated to this large country for business purposes, this now showing that this is a two way traffic benefit.
He boasted that his country is now co-operating with the African continent in improving its infrastructure knowing that it is through this way this continent will overcome it current economic challenges.
Moreover, he challenged African journalists to be good advisors to their governments because fast industrialization has always been accompanied by environmental degradation, thus they should ensure that the recent exchange between China and Africa in industrialization considers and adheres to the hosting country’s environmental realities.
He noted that in order to curb the side effects of over capacity his country has done major transformations in its infrastructure starting from roads, railways and real estates. Moreover the same has been done in transforming its aviation industry.
A recent visit to Shanghai eventually led this reporter to the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC) which is a state-owned limited liability company.
According to spokespersons of this company namely Jiang Zemin and Shingtao Huang, this company was formed with the approval of the State Council and jointly invested by State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council, Shanghai Guo Sheng (Group) Co., Ltd.
COMAC functions as the main vehicle in implementing large passenger aircraft programs in China. It is also mandated with the overall planning of developing trunk liner and regional jet programs and realizing the industrialization of civil aircraft in China.
Apart from aircraft construction this company is engaged in research, manufacture and flight tests of civil aircraft and related products, as well as marketing, servicing, leasing and operations of civil aircraft.
Large passenger aircraft is the embodiment of the nation’s industrial and technological standing as well as the comprehensive power, and is praised as ‘the flower of modern industry’ and ‘a pearl in modern manufacturing industry’.
Modern large passenger aircraft opens the human civilization of flying and becomes the most efficient means of transportation.
This company follows the road of independent innovation with Chinese characteristics and embodying technical progress to implement innovation in system, mechanism, technology and management.
But a similar story on how China has invested a lot in the infrastructure was revealed when this reporter visited the China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC).
According to official information in this company, this is a state-owned construction enterprise that is the second largest construction and engineering company in the world by revenue as of 2014 and second highest in accounts payable by market as of 2015.
The Ethiopian Government and CRCC project of railways construction, being the country’s first ever inter-city light rail system, a $475 million project that the government hopes would ease traffic congestion in its sprawling capital of Addis Ababa (photo courtesy)
The limited company was incorporated in 2007 in order to float the assets of “China Railway Construction Corporation” [Group] (CRCCG). Some of the major beneficiaries in its construction capacity are Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Africa.
Moreover the CRCC has ongoing construction projects up to now in Kenya, Uganda, and South Sudan with an intention to form a railways network link. The spirit behind these constructions is to ensure that there is maintenance of good services.
Officials boasted that CRCC is dedicated to becoming a global construction company. The effort to achieve this status was apparent in the 2000s when by end of the decade; the company had 209 projects in 35 countries, mostly in Africa. Its five major overseas markets then were Algeria, Nigeria, Libya, Angola and Saudi Arabia.
In the succeeding decade, CRCC has branched to more overseas markets and moved up the value chain into overseas high speed rail construction. In Algeria a consortium of CRCC and CITIC constructed the Central and Western sections of the Algeria East–West Highway in a contract worth $6.25 billion.
While in Egypt the track upgrade contract for $600m was won by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation unit in April 2015.
