From The New York Times:
If the 20th was the American century, then the 21st belongs to China. It’s that simple, Ted C. Fishman says, and anyone who doubts it should take his whirlwind tour of the world’s fastest-developing economy.
The numbers are staggering. From 1982 through 2002, the United States economy grew at an annual rate of 3.3 percent, he writes, well above average for the world’s most prosperous nations. China’s economy grew at an annual rate of 9.5 percent, meaning it “doubled nearly three times over,” in the generation since market reforms were introduced. In 2003 it bought 7 percent of the world’s oil, a quarter of its aluminum and steel, almost a third of its iron ore and coal, and 40 percent of its cement. It makes 40 percent of all furniture sold in the United States. Its 3,000 Christmas-decoration factories exported more than $900 million tree trimmings and plastic Santas in the first 10 months of 2003.
