10 Features of the Chinese Economy You Could Use in a BUSS4 Essay

The BUSS4 research theme requires students to be "aware of recent trends in key economic and demographic data for China such as national income, income per person, wage costs, exchange rates and population trends".Here are a selection of key charts (and a brief supporting commentary) that help students ensure they are up-to-date as they plan and write their BUSS4 China essay.

China has sustained high levels of growth in GDP for a long period (despite the global economic slowdown), although the trend in recent years is for slower growth (below 10%). The target rate of growth for 2014 is 7.4%, although many commentators believe it will be a little lower than that.

As the "factory of the world", China has developed substantial reserves of foreign currencies through its positive current account balance. However, that current account balance has fallen significantly in recent years.

China's economy has experienced a transformation over the last 25-30 years. Much of the growth in economic activity has been achieved through substantial investment in infrastructure - particularly transportation projects and residential and commercial property construction.

It is expected that household consumption will become a much more significant source of economic growth in the future for China. This so-called "rebalancing" will have profound implications for doing business in China, not the least being that a "rebalanced" China is likely to be a slower-growing China.

The economic transformation of China since circa 1990 has led to a significant change in the structure of employment there. The number of people working in the primary sector (e.g. agriculture) has fallen by approximately 125 million in the last 25 years as the impact of rural migration to urban environments has taken effect.

China has experienced the most significant migration in human history in the last 30 years as hundreds of millions of Chinese have migrated from the rural West to the factories in the eastern provinces and the major Tier 1 cities.

An impact of an ageing China (demographic change resulting in fewer young people) and changing employment expectations / regulations, has seen China's wage costs rise significantly for the last decade. A key consequence of this is that China is no longer necessarily the best source of low-labour cost production. However, another implication is that rising wages have accelerated the growth in household incomes which in turn has fuelled the growth of the Chinese middle class.

The economic transformation of China has dragged hundreds of millions of Chinese out of extreme poverty.

As substantial numbers of Chinese people have been taken out of poverty, their ability to demand goods and services beyond their basic needs has grown too! China is now the world's largest producer and consumer of motor vehicles.

The growth of mobile phone ownership and Internet connectivity is also a compelling example of the impact of economic growth on consumer activity in China.

The UK has managed to increased the value of its trade with China quite substantially in recent years (albeit from a low base). However, the UK still runs a substantial trade deficit in goods and services with China, meaning that the growth imports from China continues to far outstrip the value of the goods and services the UK sells there.