LETTERS

It was fascinating for me to read “Chinas New Industrial Revolu-tion” by John Ross and “China， Leader of the Third Industrial Revolution？” by Hu Jiangyun.

With reference to the textbook Elementary Economic Theory by K.K. Dewett and J.D. Varma， economic development， as opposed to under-development， implies that a country has a highly economic system. It means highly efficient organization both of agriculture and of industry， a highly developed banking and credit system and adequate development of transport and communications.

Analyzing briefly Chinas economic system， I recall that in China Today， May 2012 Vol. 61， No. 5 （“To Our Readers”）， you excellently pinpointed the challenges， obstacles and the role of scientific and technological advances in Chinas agricultural growth， so that – as estimated – China can complete industrialization by 2020.

As far as the banking and credit system is concerned， we know that China felt lesser shocks from the global financial crisis and recession compared to the U.S. and many other countries， which is a huge advantage.

I do not have much of an insight into transport in China， but the perception I have is that it is one of the most developed and highly modernized transport systems of the 21st century.

Chinas 2011 foreign trade white paper states， “In this new century Chinas trade with newly emerging markets and developing countries has maintained a sustained and relatively rapid growth. In Chinas total trade in goods from 2005 to 2010 the proportion of trade with ASEAN increased from 9.2 percent to 9.8 percent， with other BRIC countries from 4.9 percent to 6.9 percent， with Latin America from 3.5 percent to 6.2 percent， and with Africa from 2.8 percent to 4.3 percent.” All these statistics reveal the actual picture of the growing Chinese economy and its important role on the world stage.

Gerard Nsengiyumva

Kigali City， Rwanda

One of the biggest reports to come out of the Party meeting last November is the easing of the one-child policy allowing parents to have two children if either parent is the only child of their families. This news was met with mixed feelings by the people around me； while they loved the idea of their only child having a sibling as a companion， they hesitated at the skyrocketing cost of raising children. Considering todays soaring living costs and pressures in the workplace， I doubt there will be a marked jump in Chinas population growth following the policy change.

Ning Xia

Beijing， China