The Political Geography of Emerging China

China views itself as being superior to the rest of the world both politically and economically. While the economic growth of the country has climbed rapidly toward the top of the list of world economies, its political relationship has not always followed suit. China's ethnocentrism has much to do with how the country is perceived economically by other countries. There were attempts to look beyond its own land for economic opportunities as early as the 8th century A.D., but by the late Ming times these maritime expeditions were halted because of high costs of maintaining the fleet and political instability. The results were a return to inward growth, population growth and stagnating per capita output.

Ancient Roots and Binding Traditions

China has a long and complex history that has taken place on the diverse landscape of its extensive nation. While the roots of the Chinese economy started with overland trade and the Silk Road, it shifted to a very prosperous maritime trade. This new economic orientation not only changed how quickly and with whom the Chinese were able to conduct business from and international stand point, it also expanded the domestic economy by changing the core economic region of China from the interior of the country to the southern and eastern coasts. The ancient economic roots are established, but the branches of those roots are constantly growing and expanding.

China's Natural Environments

China is roughly the same size as the United States and only smaller than Russia and Canada. The difference between all these countries is China has to use its land and resources to support an economy with nearly one-fifth of the world population. It appears the grow the economy at any cost to the environment attitude has turned a corner in the first decade of the new millennium. The attitude of great prosperity and a booming economy can only come at the cost of the environment is finally looked at as bad by the very highest levels of government. The pollution, created by industry used to support such a booming economy, of the massive river system, and the deforestation is being viewed as unsustainable. While human interference and the upward climb of an advancing economy has played a huge role in China's environment, the future is looking less cloudy.

China's Path and Progress

China's current pace of economic development is climbing as fast as this flight of stairs leading to the temple on Tai Shan Mountain in Old China. The Chinese describe their economic system as socialism with Chinese characteristics. In 2012, China's Gross Domestic Product was ranked 2nd in the world. Thanks to a current population of 1.3 billion people, there is no shortage of a labor force in China. This abundance of labor helped quadruple the highway network, triple the rail freight system and increase economic growth at a rate of 8-10% per year from 1978 to 2008. China's economy moved away from agriculture and heavy industry towards light manufacturing and the service sector. China is changing rapidly whether anyone likes it or not. It is very important that we as a world begin to understand China's history as well as their path moving forward.