Diversity is a good thing: China and USA

by YankeeJim | January 19, 2011 at 03:58 am

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Put two diverse cultures together into a partnership and the outcome is not all that bad. Some good rubs off both ways. If the Chinese economic system is so bad, why are they gaining and why are they competing effectively? Argument has it that their advantage comes at the expense of workers and the environment. At one point in history, didn’t the US have the same advantage with similar trade-offs? Is it a point in time issue?

American freedom and entrepreneurial spirit is a positive influence. Fiscal discipline and conservatism oddly may be China’s contribution to the US recovery process.

“Job creation seen as key to China's investment in U.S.

By John Pomfret

Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 19, 2011; 12:00 AM

ELGIN, ILL. - Ni Pin believes in the United States. He's lived here for almost 20 years. His three children were born here. And, unlike many Americans, he thinks that even in the middle of the Rust Belt, there's hope for manufacturing in this country.

Ni runs the U.S. operations of a Chinese company called Wanxiang International, an auto parts giant with worldwide revenue of $8 billion. Over the past decade, Wanxiang America has purchased or invested in more than 20 U.S. firms and now employs more Americans - 5,000 at last count - than any other Chinese company.

It's for that reason - jobs, jobs, jobs - that Chinese President Hu Jintao will highlight Wanxiang's U.S. operations on Friday during an event in Chicago. Hu is hoping to show Americans that in addition to providing them with cheap goods, Chinese companies can also give them good jobs.

That issue is a critical one in an economic relationship that many Americans feel is unfairly tilted toward Beijing. In speeches last week, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke both complained that China was not open enough to U.S. products, had not done enough to let the value of its currency appreciate against the dollar and was not respectful of U.S. intellectual property rights.

If the United States and China are going to begin to rebalance their economies, China needs to bring more jobs to the United States.

For years, there wasn't much progress. As of 2008, Chinese companies had invested less than a total of $5 billion in the United States, even as U.S. firms had made $50 billion in capital investments in China and employed tens of thousands of Chinese workers.

But since 2009, Chinese investment in the United States has exploded - jumping about 150 percent to almost $12 billion in total, according to new figures from Rhodium Group, a New York-based consultancy. Today, Chinese firms employ at least 10,000 Americans.

"While most people are asking, 'What's holding Chinese investment back?' that question is obsolete," said Daniel Rosen, a principal at Rhodium. "Chinese investment is taking off."”