Generally, history does not present China as a country that had much significance within the world economy; yet today it prides itself on being an important nation within the capitalist world economy. The sole cogent explanation to this fact is that China as a country developed a cogent domestic development strategy with which its economy could improve quite quickly. Firstly, the country has invested in the manufacturing industry quite heavily, with many types of goods being manufactured within the country. In addition, most of entrepreneurs from China prefer exporting their products to other countries rather than sell them to local consumers. This is so because they fetch better prices within the international market (Swider). Nevertheless, the domestic market thrives quite well in view of the significant increase in household consumption besides capital expenditure by the state.
Aside from this factor, the labor market (Coase and Wang 100) in China is yet another plausible way that can possibly explain the sharp improvement in the economy of the country. China has a large workforce that provides labor to the ever-expanding manufacturing sector in the country. Over the course of time, the cost of labor in China has continued to increase, but the same does not impact negatively on the economy due to the fact that the Chinese manufacturing sector targets international markets coupled with the fact that there are quite a lot of foreign direct investments in China.
The growth of China into a capitalist economic powerhouse can be to a certain extent attributed to the alliances that the nation has formed with Latin America. The relationship between Latin America and Asian countries can be dated back in the 19th century when at the end of the slave trade, Chinese nationals among others would be ferried to work in America. These laborers were referred to as cookies. In the year 1874, a commission was formed to investigate the welfare of coolies, consequent upon which the years of bondage for the laborers came to an end. After they received their freedom the Chinese coolies ventured into entrepreneurship and their businesses flourished. Although they were not allowed to settle and carry on trade by their Mexican counterparts this formed the basis of Chinese involvement in the business.
The same manner of relationship between Asians and Americans was witnessed amongst coolies who were residents in California and New York. They too were enslaved for quite a long time and worked under their white masters. At the time, however, there was certain development that came up in regard to the immigration policy compelling the persons of Asian descent who were working as coolies to leave their jobs. For quite some years now, the world has witnessed a paradigm shift in which China has grown to become America’s largest creditor, investor, and second most important trading partner. The experience of the coolies, as aforementioned, therefore, arguably laid the foundation for Chinese participation in trade at the international platform.
The social construction of Asian American relations can be utilized to explain the paradigm shift that took place as aforementioned. The US government at the moment has strict immigration policies that restrict persons who are allowed into the country for any purpose and especially that of acquiring employment or for trade activities. The federal immigration policies in question are intended to allow only highly-skilled persons into the country. Subsequently, they are granted lawful and permanent residence in the country (Junn 355). China has therefore benefitted significantly from its relations with the United States of America bearing in mind that the collaboration between the states presents a labor market that is capable of meeting the current demand since it is characterized by shared experiences between the workers of both nations.
Currently, the Chinese are the third largest foreigners within the United States of America. Chinese have occupied major cities in the country, New York in particular. Nevertheless, unlike the population of laborers who migrated into the states many years ago, the current immigrants from China arriving in the US are predominantly highly skilled. Thousands of students within their undergraduate level from China travel to the United States to pursue higher education. Most of these students receive employer-sponsored visas the effect of which is that they acquire formal employment immediately after completion of their studies.
The Immigration Reform and Control Act 1986 has made it more difficult for foreign immigrants to access the US with an aim of acquiring formal employment. The act, although it now has several annexures to it, had a provision to the effect that employers were subject to fines in the event that their employee lacked the necessary permit to be in the country. The fine was to be imposed with provision for rectification (Loucky, Armstrong and Estrada 92). It is notable that the law served to prevent modern day slavery by virtue of the fact that an employee who forged papers with the motivation of acquiring employment in the country would attract serious sanctions for their employer (Ciment and Radzilowski 87). This explains why slavery is no longer publicly existent.
Work Cited
Ciment, James and John Radzilowski. American Immigration: An Encyclopedia of Political, Social, and Cultural Change:Encyclopedia of Political, Social, and Cultural Change. Amazon: Routledge, 2015.
Coase, Ronald and Ning Wang. How China Became Capitalist. Amazon: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.
Junn, Jane. “FROM COOLIE TO MODEL MINORITYU.S. Immigration Policy and the Construction of Racial Identity.” Du Bois Review (2007): 355-375.
Loucky, James, et al. Immigration in America Today: An Encyclopedia. Amazon: Greenwood Publishing Copyright, 2006.
Swider, Sarah. Building China: Informal Work and the New Precariat. Amazon: Cornell University Press, 2016.