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China: The Morphing Dragon

Otaviano Canuto's picture

The Chinese economy has changed dramatically over the last three decades. While its per-capita income was only a third of that of Sub-Saharan Africa in 1978, it has now reached an upper-middle income status, lifting more than half a billion people out of poverty. The numbers are dramatic: per capita income has doubled for more than a billion people in just 12 years. What was once a primarily rural, agricultural economy has been transformed into an increasingly urban and diversified economic structure, with decentralization and market-based relations rising relative to the traditional government driven command-based economy.

China's secret weapon in light manufacturing: Small and Medium Enterprise-oriented "Plug and Play" industrial zones

Vincent Palmade's picture

 

Light manufacturing operations in a Chinese standardized factory building
  Light manufacturing operations in a Chinese standardized factory building
The success of Chinese manufacturing growth in recent decades is indisputable and has irrevocably shifted the global landscape for manufacturing competitiveness. In contrast, manufacturing in Sub -Saharan Africa has failed to deliver broad-based growth and poverty reduction on anything close to the scale as has been observed in East Asia. As countries, such as China and Vietnam, look to upgrade technology and move up the value-chain, there may be an opportunity for Africa to become competitive in the low-technology, labor-intensive light manufacturing sectors and enter the global manufacturing supply chain.