Global financial crisis impact on China
Having just come off a conference call with some of my Chinese suppliers, discussing the impact the global financial meltdown was going to have on trade, I have to say that I detected a certain amount of arrogance and conceit rarely displayed.
China is fortunate to be still experiencing double digit growth this year and 9.1% predicted growth next year but now is not the time to remind me of that fact. And indeed much of this growth is linked in some way or other to foreign global trade.
Capitalism and free markets are not something many Chinese have much experience of and whilst at the moment they hardly seem defensible, they are what they are and they find their own level. The impact of the global financial crisis has not impacted China at the higher echelons just yet but is impacting shop floor workers who are losing jobs due to decreased demand for products. This will get worse not better and I have to wonder where all the growth will come from then.
I have a great deal of respect for Chinese business and practises and a great deal of time for the Chinese people but I would warn against an overt display of conceited arrogance at this troubling time.
The world is getting smaller and we are all in this together…….nobody will escape completely unscathed and we are yet to see who the biggest losers will be.