The Growth Of China

China Today...
Second largest economy in the world GDP= $9.24 trillion
worlds fastest growing major economy (however in 2014 suffered slowest growth for 24 years, still 7.2%)
Second largest trading nation and largest exporter of goods
Since 1978 the average income has x4
during last 10 years has contribute more than 30% to global economy
Attracts most FDI in the world

How did it get there?
China's rapid growth started when it switched from a centrally planned economy to a more market orientated economy in 1978 under Deng Xioping. This opened up China to all sorts of opportunities. TNCs started to use the country an an export platform which made it a major competitor on that field to the Asian Tigers.
FDI was initially encouraged in SEZs (small enterprise zones) which were situated along the coast. In early 1980s the number of SEZs was expanded to a total of 17 (14 coastal, 3 inland). These SEZs were areas that had separate, more relaxed regulations and improved infrastructure in order to attract FDI. Shanghai is an example of an SEZ.
China joined the WTO in 2001 which allowed it greater access onto the global market.
China had competitive advantages due to their large population, cheap labour force and their ability to push policies through quickly.


However this growth caused many problems...
There have been massive disparities in incomes creating huge inequality. Areas are being left behind such as Suchuan and many rural areas.
Rapid industialization has caused major pollution in the form of smog and polluted waters (31/52 of the major lakes have severe pollution). Acid rain falls on 30% China.

Growth Of The Asian Tigers - Geography and Economics A-Level

The term Asian Tigers, refers to Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore an Hong Kong.

The term was becoming widely used in the 70s and 80s following the emergence of these four countries who all followed a similar pattern of development to becoming developed countries. These countries For example Singapore is now one of the world leading financial centres.

None of these countries had a rich supply of ntural resources. They followed a very export driven model of industrialization by focusing on selling to rich western countries such as the UK and USA. They decided that to boost the manufacturing industry they would have to tap in to economies of scale and therefore rely on international trade. In trading to a larger market they could improve efficiency through E.O.S. This model is different to conventional models of the time which involved imposing raised tariffs and quota on imports which reduced the number of imports and thus allowing the domestic industries to flourish and develop. Although the Asian Tigers did use this model at first before switching heavily to an export driven model.

These countries all had similar characteristics which included:

• GDP growth rate from 1960 to 2000 averaged 6% per year 
• abundance of cheap labour due to being poor in 1960
• all invested heavily in education, this can increase LRAS and increase productivity
• all had strong Chinese influences
• non democratic political systems meaning plans were driven through easily

But is this a good model to follow?

There are many criticisms of this export led model which include:

• dependency on other countries economic health can be very risky
• fast expansion of these countries caused problems such as a in 1990 many stock markets crashed and sparked a worldwide financial crisis
• Rapid industrialization has caused many environmental problems
• Lost competitive edge to India and China who can now create at cheaper unit costs. 

The new era of  Asian Tigers (Tiger Cubs)

It is said that Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand are also following the export led growth model.

It is predicted that these 4 countries will be in the top 50 economies in the world by 2050.

Due to a high number of Chinese entrepreneurs and residents, the transformation of China has led to increased investment. 

Sustainable Tourism. Myth Or reality? - Geography A-Level

Sustainable tourism is defined as “tourism that respects both local people and the traveller, cultural heritage and the environment”. 
It is all about readapting the modern approaches to tourism. It involves tourism with a low impact on local culture and environment while creating jobs an income for the local area with the overall aim of conserving the local ecosystem.
Also commonly known as ecotourism.

Ways of creating sustainable tourism:

• Using renewable energy ie. solar power for heating (environmental)
• recycle rainwater (environmental)
• only use sustainable materials, ie. wood from sustainable woods (environmental)
• local food to reduce food miles (environmental)
• promote local culture (social)
• sell local products (social)
• reinvest some profits into local community (social)
• employ local residents (economic)
• be locally owned and not be a TNC (economic)
• only purchase local goods (economic)

Arguments against sustainable tourism:

• Without proper management can be harmful to environment. ie. If there are no roads then can degrade the land
• resentment of wealthy foreign visitors by locals leads to negative impact on local community
• can make area dependent on tourism
• when visitors increase then that equals more damage to environment
• resorts usually in remote locations therefore more travel to get there.

Case Study: Galapagos Islands.

Ecuadorian islands 1000km off of South America. 

Most famous for site of Charles Darwins' 'thoery of evoluton' where he studied that finches had different beaks dependent on different islands.

Approximately 90% of island is designated as national park

Population of 20,000

Became first UNESCO heritage site in 1979

Around 100,000 visitors a year.

The tourists who visit have to abide by strict rules:

• can only visit a limited number of places
• are all educated on conserving land
• pay £25 towards conservation of islands

Tourists generate a lot of business in area such as local guides, restaurants, hotels etc.

However due to growing demand for holidays there there are 5 flights a day that land on the islands and cruise ships stop off which harms the local marine life. There are still problems such as oil spills from boats, overuse of some sites (honeypot), and apart from tourism there are not many other employment opportunities. 

Boxing Day Tsunami Case Study - A2 Geography

Brief case study for plate tectonics unit 3 geography.

Background

• 26th December 2004
• 8.9 Richter scale earthquake in the Indian Ocean
• A result of the Indo-Australian plate being subducted beneath the Eurasian plate
• Waves reached 15m high in some places as they first reached the shore
• Hit Indonesia first
• Tsunami travelled at 800 Km/h

Impacts

• 250,000 dead
• 2 million homeless
• Lost lots of benefits from tourism, loss of businesses, unemployment and lack of infrastructure.

Christchurch Earthquake A2 Geography - MEDC Case Study

Background Info

• Located In New Zealand
• On the Pacific ring of fire
• Located on conservative plate margin a the Indo-Australian plate is moving past the Pacific plate.
• Original quake was on 4th September 2010 and the most destructive quake was on 22nd February 2011

The Earthquake

• 4th September earthquake measured 7.1 on richter scale and there were 361+ aftershocks in the first week
• 22nd February earthquake measured 6.3 on richter scale
• 22nd February had a very shallow focus of 5km deep
• Christchurch is above sedimentary rock which is prone to liquefaction and shaking

Impacts

Social

• 181 killed (80 from collapse of CTV tower)
• 80% of the city without power

Economic

• Increased unemployment
• lost benefits of hosting rugby world cup

Environmental

• Liquefaction
• Earth rose 1cm and moved closer to Sydney

Responses

• $6-7 million in aid
• A plan was devised within 2 hours
• Response centres were set up such as the Canterbury art gallery which is earthquake proof
• Temporary housing provided
• 6 months after the quake 80% of the roads had been repaired

Measuring Development - Development and Globalisation Geography unit 3 A2

There are many ways of measuring development, all have their positives and negatives.

GDP - Gross Domestic Product is the total output of an economy.

• Does not take into account inequality
• Nor informal employment
• Very hard to measure with black markets etc.

GNP - Gross National Product is the GDP plus net income from domestic businesses abroad.

• Same drawbacks to GDP
• Doesn't take into account environmental, social development only assumes them

HDI - Human Development Index is an indicator that uses education (literacy rates), health (life expectancy) and living standards (GNP per capita)

• Doesn't take into account environment
• No indicator of distribution
• Doesn't take into account corruption or political freedom

PQLI - physical quality of life index takes into account literacy rate, infant mortaty rate and life expectancy.

• many factors ignored such as political freedom
• economic growth/incomes
• infrastructure

Others

• HPI - happy planet index takes into account ecology, life expectanccy and life satisfaction
• Life expectancy
• Number of mobile phones per 1000 people

All indicators have their positives and negatives but the main problem with them is that they focus on certain aspects of development and not others therefore countries may not rank highly on one but rank highly on another. However the most common is HDI which has rankings, Norway are currently top with 0.944.

Trade and Aid - Economics/Geography A2 level

Aid and Trade are 2 ways to promote growth and development in an economy.

Trade helps an economy because it improves the volume and quantity of exports. This in theory will turn into jobs and improved living standards. Hopefully some of this income will be saved and therefore boost demand in the economy (hopefully include multiplier effect) and start developing as a country. Trade also creates long term jobs which is key for sustained growth. According to the Rostow Model this will push the country past the traditional sector and into the preconditions for take off or take off. I will go into detail on in a different post.
This theory is very simplified and  assumes developing countries all follow the same stages as the now developed European countries the theory was based on. Trade can increase inequality as it is the owners of the firms who keep the money and do as they please with it. Another problem with trade comes about when you are outside of a trading bloc and have to pay an external tariff to trade with countries inside. This prevents many of the lower developed African countries trading with the developed western countries.

One of the main barriers to growth is the savings gap, the difference between the money that is earned and the amount of money that can be saved and thus invested. Due to a high propensity to consume in poorer countries, finding money to save is difficult and thus investment is difficult.

Aid is a useful way of overcoming that savings gap. Aid can come in many forms:

• Bilateral aid - Aid from one country to another
• Multilateral aid - Aid that comes from multiple countries through an international agency such as the World Bank
• NGOs - Non governmental organisations such as Oxfam provide money and professional support This type of aid is unlikely to come with any conditions like the others

Aid can come in the forms of money or in the form of technical assistance in order to create infrastructure or to help boost certain industries. There are many problems with aid that include:

• Can come with tied conditions such as having to buy from the donor country
• Can lead to aid dependency 
• Corruption can cause the aid to never be distributed evenly or where needed.
• Can led to distorted market forces

As mentioned earlier you can get aid in different forms: 

• Tied aid - aid that comes with conditions
• Short term aid - usually comes after a natural disaster
• Long term aid- aid for long term developments such as the improvement of hospitals or infrastructure
• Top down aid - aid given to organizations for large scale projects such as dam building
• Bottom up aid - schemes at grassroots level, often by NGOs working with local communities.

So which is better, aid or trade?
I believe trade is greater than aid when it comes to helping a country to develop. Over the past 50 years Africa has received $500 billion in aid and despite this the continent still suffers from poverty, disease and corruption. Aid is not usually aid as it is usually tied to conditions such as buying from donor country. Aid also creates dependency which is not sustainable compared to growth because as a country increases trade it increases jobs and wealth in a way that they are not totally dependant on aid from other countries. However many developed countries have protectionist measures that prevent trade with developing countries as they would have to pay high taxes. But before a country can truly develop it needs to eliminate any major health problems such as HIV or malaria.

Montserrat Case Study A2 Geography - LEDC Volcano

Background Info

• Soufriere Hills is located in Montserrat, a small Caribbean island close to Antigua. 
• 7 miles wide and 12 miles long. 
• Population of 5,900 (2008). 
• Categorized as a Less Economically Developed Country.
• English territory
• Geographically it is located where the North and South American plate boundaries are being subducted beneath the Caribbean Plate creating the Puerto Rico trench therefore it is classified as a Destructive Plate Boundary.

The Volcano

• Composite volcano, made up of layers of ash and andesitic lava.
• It had been showing signs since 1995 when it erupted for the first time in 350 years. 
• A lava dome then built up and when it collapsed on 25th June 1997 it caused a pyroclastic flow measuring up to 120 km/h and 600 degrees. 

Impacts

Social

• 19 dead
• 5,000 in temporary shelters
• 50% of population were evacuated to the north
• Many school and hospitals destroyed
• Airport and port closed

Economic

• Unemployment rose from 7% to 50%
• 7000 people left the island which left a skills shortage
• The capital Plymouth became a ghost town

Environmental

• South of the island's soil was scorched and cannot be used
• Forest fires burnt down trees
• Floods s valleys were blocked with ash

Responses

• Exclusion zone set up in south of the island
• UK gave £41 million in aid
• £2400 given to each citizen in order to relocate
• Emergency investments in order to ensure essentials such as sanitation were available
• After the first signs in 1995 the MVO (Montserrat Volcano Observatory) was set up and staffed by scientists in order to monitor volcanic activity and it associated hazards.