Why China Works

　　Exercises

　　1. Answer the questions on the text:

　　1) How does the author view the Chinese economy?

　　It is the most important bright spot in the world economy under the global recession, the only major economy that is likely to show significant growth this year, and the only one that routinely breaks every rule in the economic textbook.

　　2) According to the author, why can the Chinese economy perform so well?

　　Because of:

　　(1) the capacity for state control by the Chinese government.

　　(2) its rejection of exotic financial innovations that are the melting core of the global credit crisis.

　　(3) the integration of its economic policies between traditional market tools and state control measures.

　　3) In what way does the author imply that western economists are erroneous in their bias toward “China’s market economic system”?

　　The United States and Europe are moving toward state control by nationalizing their banking and car industries, and imposing heavy new regulation on the financial industry.

　　4) What is the view of Stephen Roach on the Chinese economy system?

　　Investment is the backbone of sustainable growth in the Chinese economy, which works more effectively than other market based systems in times of economic stress.

　　5) Why can China work in the eye of the author?

　　It has followed a radical pragmatism focusing on a slow but steady shift toward freer markets.

　　6) What is regarded as the strategic thinking of the Chinese leaders in market reforms?

　　They understand even under the serious financial crisis that it can stabilize the Chinese market and economy to introduce more sophisticated forms of securitization, including stock index funds, corporate bonds and other debt products. They also realize that, in the course of doing this, they should learn from the mistakes the westerners have made.

　　7) What is the example given to illustrate the steadiness of the Chinese leaders in their policy execution?

　　They continue to allow the value of yuan to rise despite of the American charges and the need for export competitiveness by their own enterprises.

　　8) What is “shock therapy”?

　　It is the economic policy adopted in Russia from 1991 to 1992 that totally deregulated prices and lead to a runaway inflation. It proved to be all shock and no therapy.

　　9) In what ways does the Chinese economic system work efficiently?

　　It can get things done quickly, move in a coherent manner, and marshal its people and resources to a common target: economic growth and prosperity.

　　11) What are the Internet and public opinion used for?

　　For putting pressure on local officials and influencing policy decisions.

　　2. Fill in each blank of the following sentences with one of the phrases in the list given below. Make changes when necessary.

　　1)At a time when the need is growing for mental health services, many countries are unfortunately cutting back on its spending.

　　2)There is an increasing number of people out of work. But the western media often unfairly label them as lazy and reliable.

　　3)Now that the flow of oil has been stopped by BP, the impact of all the spilled oil and natural gas is still being measured.

　　4)Once again its ability to steer economic policy will be tested against the ability to deliver on services and projects aimed at growing the economy and jobs.

　　5)Housing prices are incredibly high today. But he bought his house for a song about five years ago.

　　6)As people are complaining high prices, especially those related to daily necessities, the government feels rather urgent to hold down inflation rate immediately.

　　7)Under the new economy policy investors are invited to buy into state-owned enterprises.

　　8)Since a serious gun shooting occurred in Arizona last week, security concerns have trickled down to all places, including residential buildings.

　　9)Social unrest is a daily occurrence in the country nowadays. It is in the last place when it comes to investment for multinational companies.

　　10)Efforts to ban smoking in China are so effective yet. Some chain smokers never think of quitting while many others have battled in vain to quit.

　　3. Match the terms in column A with the definitions in column B:

　　A_______________________ B__________________________________

　　1)financial innovation A) A reduction in the general availability of loans (or

　　credit) or a sudden tightening of the conditions

　　required to obtain a loan from the banks.7

　　2)stimulus package B) A non-bank entity or organization such as

　　investment companies and mutual funds that

　　invests in large quantities. 8

　　3)overheating C)A legal entity created by a government to undertake

　　commercial activities on its behalf. 6

　　4)stamp tax D) The trading of a corporation's stock or other

　　securities (e.g. bonds or stock options) by

　　individuals with potential access to non-public

　　information.9

　　E) An industry that requires large amounts of capital, machinery and equipment to produce goods. 5

　　5)capital-intensive sector F) Generation of new and creative approaches to

　　securities, money management or investing. 1

　　6)state-run firm G) An economy that is expanding so rapidly that too

　　much money is chasing too few goods and

　　economists fear a rise in inflation . 3

　　7)credit crisis H) tax levied on certain legal transactions such as the

　　transfer of a property such as building, copyright,

　　land, patent, and securities. 4

　　8)institutional investor I) A plan or a series of measures taken by a

　　government to jump-start its ailing economy,

　　generally as a part of its fiscal policy. 2

　　10) insider trading

　　4. Translate the following passage into Chinese.

　　我们所面临的来自中国的真正挑战并不是他们向我们大量销售的货物，而恰恰相反，是他们正在提升的价值链。这在将来可能会对美国经济构成最严重的新挑战。

　　在过去三十年的大部分时间里，中国集中精力建设基础设施，这主要靠廉价的劳动力和勤劳苦干的工人就行了。但工厂也都现代化、交通世界一流、港口大型化、机场高效化了，而且所有这些都是以人类历史上从未有过的速度和规模完成的。

　　现在中国又想跨入更高质产品和服务的时代。这意味着由政府官员确定的经济发展的下一步是要以建设高速网般的决心投资发展人力资本。自1998年来，中国政府已启动了大规模的教育发展计划，投入的资金按GDP比例计算增加了两倍，在而后的十年，中国的大学增加了一倍，大学生增加了四倍，从1997年的100万增长到2007年的550万。中国列出了的9所大学为其常青藤大学联盟。欧洲各大学以及美国的州立大学因受大规模经费削减影响而处于崩溃状态，而中国的大学大发展趋势则恰恰相反。耶鲁大学校长理查德·雷文在今年年初的一次演讲中指出：“这次中国大学的扩展是前所未有的，在仅十年的时间里就建起了世界上规模最大的高等教育。实际上，2000年以来中国大学扩招的大学生人数超过了美国大学招生的总数。

　　那么这一史无前例的教育投资对中国和美国有何意义呢?诺贝尔经济学奖得主罗伯特·福格尔预测了训练有素工人的经济影响。在美国，高中毕业的工人的生产率是只受过9年教育的人的1.8倍，而大学毕业的则要高出两倍。中国正在大规模地扩大高中和大学生的人数。尽管目前中国在服务业上仍远远落后他国，但中国企业将会很快进入这一巨大市场。福格尔相信高技能工人的增多将在今后大大刺激中国的经济增长率，使其GDP在2040年之前达到惊人的123万亿美元。

　　不管这一难以想象的数字是否准确，但有一点是很清楚的，中国正开始提升其价值链，进入一直来只有西方国家独占的产业和工种，这才是来自中国的真正挑战。应对这一挑战的最佳和最有效的方法不是威胁和关税，而是深层次的结构改革和大规模的投资，使美国经济重新获得活力，使美国工人再具竞争力。

　　5. Read the following text and choose the best sentence from the list (A-E) below to fill in each of the gaps in the text.

　　1)It assembles more toys, stitches more shoes and sews more garments than any other nation in the world.

　　2)China is home to 1.3 billion people and has 100 cities of more than a million people.

　　3)Even at 25 cents an hour, Chinese workers cost more than laborers in the poorer countries of Southeast Asia or Africa.

　　4)Indeed, the country's embrace of market economy over the last decade and the government's insistence that farmers fend for themselves are combining forces to all.

　　5)That disparity has set in motion the largest human migration in history.

　　Supplementary Reading

　　China: The next branding superpower?

　　1.China and the U.S disagree ________.

　　A.whether the Chinese should buy more

　　B.over who dominates the bilateral trade

　　C.whether the value of RMB is deliberately held down

　　D.over what the Chinese consumers should buy

　　2.The Americans assume that China will remain ________ so that it will continue to import American higher value added products and services.

　　A.a manufacturing superpower

　　B.a developing country

　　C.a service-based economy

　　D.a regional economic power

　　3.By moving up the value chain, China intends to become a ________.

　　A.manufacturing giant

　　B.branding superpower

　　C.competitive nation

　　D.political superpower

　　4.According to the author, the work of branding in China would depend more on ________.

　　A.domestic companies

　　B.foreign investors

　　C.the government

　　D.multinational companies

　　5.With better access to Chinese market for foreign companies, what do Chinese policy makers fear?

　　A.Chinese consumers will prefer famous foreign brands.

　　B.Chinese brands are unable to move up to the high end of the brand chain.

　　C.China can also add values through marketing and distribution.

　　D.China will have to spend billions building brands.

　　6.The Space Rate between the U.S. and the Soviet Union is mentioned to reflect ________.

　　A.military competition during the cold war

　　B.the anxiety of the Americans in the space rate

　　C.national economic security in China

　　D.the national anxiety of China over their brand competitiveness

　　7.The author believes in less than a century the consumer trends in the world will be overwhelmingly dominated by ________.

　　A.consumer consciousness

　　B.competitive market

　　C.such brands as Coca-cola, Google, and Toyota

　　D.Chinese brands