Meanwhile, The Middle Kingdom keeps marching on

By Morf Morford
Tacoma Daily Index

And in other news…..China had its worst economic quarter in decades at a little over 6% – well over twice – in fact almost triple – the rate of growth of the USA. (1*)

In spite of erratic trade policies on the part of one of its primary global trade partners, China, after decades of growth well over 10%, had growth so far in 2019 of about double the UN forecast for the rest of the world.

You don’t need to be a mathematical genius to realize that several years of at least 10% growth adds up.

We in the USA do victory laps when we pass 3%.

Before Americans strain a muscle patting themselves on the back for passing the 2% mark for the second quarter of 2019, we might remind ourselves of a few sobering facts about the Chinese economy.

Chang’e-4 probe touched down in a large crater near the Moon’s South Pole in January to analyze the geology of an unexplored region. China’s space agency called the landing “an important stride toward China being a strong country in space exploration”.

Missions to Mars and Jupiter, a manned Moon landing and a permanent Chinese space station are planned.

Chinese businesses filed 473 of the 608 Artificial Intelligence patents lodged with the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2018 and a third of all blockchain patents.

In 2018, China had a total of 186 unicorn start-ups – companies worth more than $1 billion – according to the Hurun List. And it fostered 97 new unicorns, or one every 3.8 days.

China built more solar and wind electricity generating capacity than any other country. Three of the world’s five largest floating solar plants are in China.

China is home to 99% of the world’s electric bus fleet with 400,000 vehicles already on the roads. Shenzhen was the first city to replace all its buses, and is now replacing all its taxis.

Chinese drivers bought 1.1 million new electric cars in 2017. At the recent Shanghai Motor Show, Chinese car makers unveiled 10 new electric car models for 2019.

China has the largest population and consumer market, and all those Chinese people are not staying home. The number of Chinese citizens taking foreign holidays is growing at over 6% a year – about 160 million (that’s about half of the US population) will take holidays outside China in 2020.