Globalization and Rapid Economic Growth for China: a Boon or a Curse?

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Globalization and Rapid Economic Growth for China: A boon or a curse? China is the world’s most populated country with a population of about 1.3 billion people. It is also the third largest country in terms of area and their economy is growing four times more than any first world country. The rapid growth of China definitely shows a few advantages of globalization. However, at the same time this rapid growth and globalization of China has led to poor environmental consequences such as air pollution, soil erosion and deforestation. The government has tried to intervene and control the negative effects of globalization and their high growth rate on the environment but has been unable to stop some severe environmental consequences. These negative effects of China’s globalization and growth leave the future environmental consequences uncertain for not only China but also the rest of the world. China’s production and consumption of various commodities is the highest in the world creating employment locally as well as globally resulting in benefits due to their rapid growth. For instance, China has the “world’s highest production rate of steel, cement, aquacultured food, and television sets; both the highest production and the highest consumption of coal, fertilizers, and tobacco; it stands near the top in production of electricity and (soon) motor vehicles, and consumption of timber; and it is now building the world’s largest dam and largest water-division project.” (Diamond 358) The urban population tripled from 13% to 38% in less than 50 years and the number of cities “quintupled to almost 700” (Diamond 360) to show how China has developed and grown over the years. People are more affluent now which is shown through the increase in the consumption of expensive meats such as beef, lamb and chicken. Other improvements include the “transportation network and vehicle

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