China’s Technological Success in Manufacturing

Amitava Banik, BE (E&C), PGDM (Insurance Business)

China has for some time now been holding a position of technological significance in the world. It is a great success story for a country that is still counted among the world’s developing nations. Memories of the time it had been associated with inferior quality products have all but vanished. China has not only been extremely successful in making its products the “new normal” all over the world, but with its investments in cutting edge technologies, infrastructure and skilled manpower, it has started to edge into the hi-tech zone.

It is generally accepted that countries develop in successive stages from an agricultural economy to industrial manufacturing and then to a service-based economy. All major world economies have traversed this path. The transformation in India on the contrary, has been from the agrarian economy to a service economy, virtually jumping over the manufacturing stage. One of the primary reasons put forward by economists for this bypassing of the manufacturing stage in India, is the lack of progress of primary education in the country. Continue reading “China’s Technological Success in Manufacturing”

Chinese Steel Industry’s Improving Performance and Implications for India

Aravind Yelery, PhD, Assistant Director, Institute of Chinese Studies

China recorded the highest global production of steel in 2016 despite its slowed growth rate. This suggests that steelmakers were focused on boosting output because they were eager to capture higher profit margins.

Steel production in China increased to 68,510 thousand tonnes in October 2016 from 68,170 thousand tonnes in September. Monthly production in China averaged 29,010.98 thousand tonnes from 1990 until 2016, reaching an all time high of 70,650 thousand tonnes in March 2016 with a record low of 4,918 thousand tonnes in February 1990. The rising trend in capacity continued from 2015 when China’s national steel output was 1.1235 billion tons, up by 0.6 percent over the previous year. Continue reading “Chinese Steel Industry’s Improving Performance and Implications for India”