How important is having a working population important for Chinas economic

success?
Huge working population refers to cheap surplus of labor from countryside.
Chinas economic success refers to fast double digit growth, powered by
export-oriented industries, and therefore increasing FDI. The essay seeks to
argue that having a huge working population is important to Chinas
economic success to a large extent because huge working population
provides China with a unique edge in its economic development. Huge trade
revenue flowed into China because of cheap labour available and therefore
low cost of production. It is the fundamental asset which the government is
able to harness to effect Chinas success. However, Huge population can be
a latent trouble for the economy. In the long run, CCP has to manipulate this
unique Chinese potential to actualize Chinas continued success.
Huge working population provides Chinese economy with cheap labour, so
that cost of production could be kept low, which is critical for China to be an
attraction destination for businesses. China has a total of 13billion of people.
In the first year of reform, 100million of the Chinese went ot he coastal
regions to look for jobs. Subsequently, 20million of the Chinese went over to
the coastal regions. The people demanded only low wages. With low cost of
production, exports therefore could be manufactured and sold at competitive
prices. As foreigners rushed to build factories in China, FDI thus increased.
Given that the Chinese economy is prized on it being the factory of the
world, huge working population is important for Chinas economic success.
Huge working population also meant that China has vast consuming power
domestically, which is a vital strength for Chinas economic success. As
people become more highly paid, purchasing power of individuals increase
and consumers become more willing and able to consumer goods and
services. Chinas vast market as such had attracted Companies from the US,
Japan and Europe to set up not just factories but stores in China because
they can produce and sell there, reaping higher profits by saving transport
costs. This also acts as a backup engine of growth during periods of global
economic downturn as China is better at weathering global economic crises
than most other developed countries, raking up high growth rate such as the
8% growth even during the 2008 global financial crisis sparked off by the fall
of the Lehman brothers bank. Hence, huge population is important for
Chinas economic growth.
Qualities of Chinas huge working population are also responsible for the
success of Chinese economic transformation. Hungry for success and a
better life, Chinese and hardworking and competitiveness, often going the
extra mile in everything they do to outshine their rivals. Being pragmatic
people with enterprising spirit, within the first ten years of reforms, domestic
private companies proliferated. Having a strong sense of belonging as a

descendant of a country with 5000yeras of history and patriotism, foreigntrained talents also return to China to contribute to the economy, bringing
back new practices and technology. Hence, huge population is important for
Chinas economic growth.
Higher saving rates, coupled with Chinas huge working population, means
that the country has tremendous capital resources to ensure its economic
success. Perceived as a virtue to be thrifty, Chinese traditionally have had
high savings. Combined with a lack of social safety net and security, Chinese
became all the more encouraged to save for the rainy days so as to not let
their quality of life be jeopardized in times of adversity. As a result, there is a
high surplus in Chinas capital account. In other words, there is an
abundance of funds available for investments and industrialization. In times
of global economic crises, huge governmental revenue is also used to fend
off the effects to keep China relatively unaffected. Hence, huge population is
important for Chinas economic growth.
However, governmental leadership is required to effectively harness and
manage the manpower potentials of China, thereby subjugating huge
population to a lesser importance. Even with economic reforms and whatnot,
at the end of the day, the economy is still directed by the state under a
conservative socialist system. This means that the government is still
responsible generating employment for all the people, be it by opening up
and developing coastal cities or otherwise. At the same time, to keep Chinas
economic growth sustainable for fear of drastic repercussions on the country,
government has to entice foreign business to come to China, such as the
1992 Nanxun and the admission to WTO in 2001. Having a large population
has to be helpful to this cause as large ineffective SOEs have been kept just
to provide sufficient employment to prevent destabilization of the country.
China has been successful in reconciling the conflict between large
population and employment only because of the presence of a far-sighted,
determined and wise government. Given a similar situation in India, social
problems would not have been managed as well. Hence, the importance of
large population is still subordinated to the role of the government.
It is also to the governments credit that China is able to respond effectively
to the various challenges which huge labour population has limited credit in.
SARS and poor food quality and export controls are all problems resolved by
the CCP. Environmental problems have been curbed by the government
pioneering the setting up of eco-cities. Investment projects on the interior of
China like the magnificent and grandiose Three Gorges Dam project was
pioneered and could only have been pioneered by the efforts of the
government no matter how big the population may be. Decisions on the
valuation Reminbi was handled by the government to ensure the
continuation of high growth rates despite the large population indirectly
imposing a upward pressure for it to rise. Since government is the one

playing a pivotal role and Chinas manpower asset is but a tool that was
wisely used, the importance of large population is therefore limited.
Nevertheless, it is Chinas export-oriented economy, built upon a large
working population that enables it to integrate itself successfully into the
global economy. Chinas economy is successful because China made itself
indispensable to the world. China is the integrator fo regional and global
economy. This is enhanced by Chinas entry to WTO. About 57% to 60% of
what China imported form the world is meant to be exported to other
countries. Hence, the importance of large population to Chinas economic
success is great.
In conclusion, the huge working populations important to Chinas economic
success to a large extent. However, instead of being an asset, the manpower
of China can become a liability in the long run given the cast unemployment
caused by the current global financial downturn if China does not upgrade its
manpower quality through education and training.