Debunking Myths About China's Economy By Yukon Huang

Exam 2 Extra Credit

The World Affairs video covers topics about the Chinese economy from Yukon Huang’s book Debunking Myths About China’s Economy. Huang begins by explaining that Americans often possess an inaccurate opinion of China. Many believe that the United States invests too much into the Chinese economy which is leading to job loss and the degradation of our country’s image. When asked which country the world’s economic leader is, most Americans believe it is China. On the other hand, most Chinese believe it is the United States. The United States invests very little of its economy into China. “Other countries such as Japan and Taiwan invest around 20-25% into China.” (6:30) Another issue Huang addresses is how little our countries

The government believes that China’s cities are overcrowded, and some citizens must relocate to smaller cities around the country. This has made moving to large cities incredibly difficult. “40% of the people in China’s major cities along the coast are illegal migrants in the sense that they don’t have residency rights. That means they can’t buy homes, they can’t drive a car, children cannot go to local schools. They don’t have social services.” (16:00) Huang believes that China’s cities are too small in comparison to other Nations and that there is potential for reducing air pollution and making the traffic more

In China, the provinces are heavily competitive with each other all while individuals and firms inside these provinces compete as well. This competition helps to strengthen the economy and reduce the potential for negative corruption and monopolization. Huang also believes that debt is not an issue for china despite soaring figures. He believes that the recent introduction of private property has aided in reducing the impact of debt.” Land prices in China have increased by 600% over a 10-year period.” (33:50) The wealth inequality in China is quite eye opening. How these individuals earned their fortunes is quite different than in the United States. While many recent millionaires and billionaires came from Internet startups, most of the wealth in China comes from property ownership. “95% of the Chinese own their homes. And that is because in the late 90’s the state gave the rights to these homes to everybody.” (37:00) Huang describes that since many families own a home, there has been a large wealth buildup due to home