China looks to reduce its dependence on the USーNHK WORLD-JAPAN NEWS
Amid ongoing trade friction with the White House, China is looking to reduce economic dependence on the US. President Trump has taken a hard line against the country since his first term in office. Now Beijing is preparing for a drawn out battle. For years, the United States has been one of China’s largest export markets. as it looks to grow the economy more sustainably. One of the key words for Beijing is diversification. This is the terminal of the China Railway Express, a rail network that connects China with countries to the west. It’s a core part of the belt and road initiative promoted by President Xiinping as a way to deepen cooperation with trading partners and encircle rivals. We handle products including automobiles, car parts and electronics. These are produced in Chongqing and other regions and then transported from here. Compared to 2017 before the first Trump administration raised tariffs on China, the number of freight trains using the route has increased more than fivefold. Beijing is also laying the groundwork to expand exports to the booming economies of Southeast Asia. In 2019, it began operating multiple routes for sea transport from Chongqing via ports in southern China. The previous route from Shanghai via the Yangsa River took about a month. That journey has now reportedly been cut to about 2 weeks with almost no change in cost. Last year, the number of cars exported via this route increased by 30% from the previous year. We want to improve infrastructure and interconnectivity and make logistics more efficient. This will allow us to cut costs and boost efficiency and quality leading to greater economic cooperation. China is also taking steps to reduce reliance on the US, not only for exports, but for imports of key products such as soybeans. In 2017, the US accounted for 34% of China’s soybean imports. Last year, thanks to increased shipments from Brazil, that share had fallen to 21%. At the same time, Beijing is working to improve self-sufficiency by offering subsidies to farmers. In a rural area of Chong Chun in the northeastern province of Jiling, annual soybean production is nearly eight times higher than it was in 2017. Everyone is growing soybeans because of the subsidies. It is easy to find sufficient supplies of substitutes for products such as soybeans on the international market. At the same time, there are sufficient stockpiles domestically. There will be no impact on food supplies. Beijing is confident that it can break away from its dependence on the US. But the reliance of China’s economy on external demand hasn’t changed, meaning that trade negotiations with the US are likely to have a major impact going forward.
From soybeans to the China Railway Express: how Beijing is working to make the Chinese economy less reliant on the United States. #china #usa #trade #railway
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