Challenges Resulting from Effects of Globalization in China

Today, I will be discussing the challenges resulting from effects of globalization in China. Having seen how it has developed since 1954, joining the World Trade organization, and gaining footing on the international market, the effects of globalization have been steady from that period to date.

From the period shown above, the global economy shifted significantly with the focus on China showing great political, economic, and social changes. New opportunities for enterprises to enter the Chinese market emerged (Sharif et al., 2020). The impact of globalization on the Chinese economy are the most significant. The economy of China rose, and continues to rise, to levels equal to some of the developed nations in the world. While globalization brought about development tin China, it also created a heap of problems. In this report, environmental issues resulting from globalization will be discussed.

Issues Resulting from Globalization

Some of the major causes of challenges include environmental issues, pressure to achieve the SDG’s in line with the UN’s projections, change of culture, human rights issues, and the rights of workers.

Environmental Problems

China is currently the largest global source of greenhouse gas emissions (Zhang & Chiu, 2020). Recent years have seen China suffer from poor air quality as a result of pollution. The poor quality of air and the ongoing pollution are attributed to the carbon-intensive industries within the country, noted by Umar et al. (2020) to be the hallmarks of Chinese development and a direct result of globalization. The carbon intensive industries have caused other environmental issues including soil contamination and scarcity of water.

China’s Environment Challenge

The increased flow of products, people, ideas, capital, services, and goods across international borders have affected the Chinese environment with noticeable force. In China, increased emissions are only the beginning of the problem. As Chinese products travel further to other countries across the globe, the nation consumes more fuel and more greenhouse gas emissions are yielded. As a direct result, pollution, ocean acidification, and climate change are observed (Zhang & Chiu, 2020).

Due to the land-based transportation of materials and ready products from and to other countries, China has witnessed habitat destruction due to the need to expand its infrastructure including bridges and roads.

Image 1: China’s transport infrastructure development 1978-2015

(Source: Lee, Lee, & Chang, 2015)

Image 1 above shows how the country has invested heavily on the development of a transport infrastructure to cater for the increased need to transport people and products in and out of regions in China. The graph shows that the transport development system was very low in 1978, rising steadily from then to 2005. From there, the growth of the transport network was significantly stable and very high until 2012. In 2013 to 2015, fewer highways have been constructed in China.

Habitat loss and pollution have been the main challenges that have resulted due to the expansive nature of development tin the Chinese transport sector. Even as more Chinese vessels use the sea, the risks of accidents and oil spills is significantly high. The marine environment has also been in danger due to the adverse effects of globalization.

Honorable Mentions

It is important to consider that the UN SDG’s have also been a challenge because of the pressure to attain certain development agendas. Ideally, western countries and the developed world have piled pressure on China to ensure that it has reduced its contribution to environment pollution, yet also stipulated a need to raise the country’s GDP per capita. Another major challenge has been the rights of workers in China. Low wages and poor work conditions, compared to the developed world, have been noted to be a key challenge as China continues to develop in line with globalization and other causes (Wan, Lu, & Chen, 2007). This issue is tied to human rights as pressure is mounted on China to provide better work environment for its industries.

Conclusion

China’s environmental issues have been the focus of this presentation. Globalization has, undoubtedly, led to a need to expand and grow industries in China. This has led to a need to create more road networks, increase its presence in the sea, and orchestrated a rise in the industries within the country, all leading to environmental degradation.

Thank you for your time. I will take all the questions that you may have regarding my presentation.

References

Lee, C. C., Lee, C. C., & Chang, C. P. (2015). Globalization, economic growth and institutional

development in China. Global Economic Review, 44(1), 31-63.

Sharif, A., Godil, D. I., Xu, B., Sinha, A., Khan, S. A. R., & Jermsittiparsert, K. (2020).

Revisiting the role of tourism and globalization in environmental degradation in China: Fresh insights from the quantile ARDL approach. Journal of Cleaner Production, 272, 122906.

Umar, M., Ji, X., Kirikkaleli, D., Shahbaz, M., & Zhou, X. (2020). Environmental cost of natural

resources utilization and economic growth: Can China shift some burden through globalization for sustainable development?. Sustainable Development, 28(6), 1678-1688.

Wan, G., Lu, M., & Chen, Z. (2007). Globalization and regional income inequality: empirical

evidence from within China. Review of Income and Wealth, 53(1), 35-59.

Zhang, W., & Chiu, Y. B. (2020). Globalization, Country Risks, and Trade in Tourism Services:

Evidence from China. Sustainability, 12(14), 5869.