From 1998 through 2000, the China Reform Forum (CRF) in Beijing and RAND in Santa Monica have jointly organized an annual conference of experts from China and the United States, focusing on economic and security subjects of mutual concern. Venues of the three conferences alternated between Beijing and Santa Monica, and conference participants included practitioners as well as scholars from both countries.

This book contains the papers delivered at the 1999 conference in Santa Monica, California, whose theme, “China, the United States, and the Global Economy,” provides the book’s title. The conference agenda and list of participants appear at the end of this volume.

The broad theme was deliberately chosen to provide ample scope to address both economic and security interests and concerns of the United States and China. While the theme was overly ambitious, it allowed participants to address both quantitative and qualitative aspects of the subject: quantitative data relating to trade and investment, both bilaterally between China and the United States, and multilaterally between them and the rest of the world; and qualitative considerations such as those relating to China’s (and Taiwan’s) membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO), as well as the convergent and divergent security interests of China and the United States.

Associated with but subsidiary to this aim, the conference papers and accompanying discussions considered the extent to which the economic outlook in each of the three entities is dependent on, or independent of, that for the other two.

THE CHALLENGES OF GLOBALIZATION: COMMENTS ON THE BEIJING CONFERENCE IN 2000

While the emphasis accorded in both the American and Chinese papers to globalization is important to note, the term’s precise meaning as reflected in the various chapters that use it is ambiguous. The millions of words and the dozens of books that purport to describe and define “globalization” recall the observation of an 18th century American philosopher, Benjamin Franklin: “A flood of words, and a drop of reason,” as well as those of an anonymous 17th century poet: “Where words most abound, much sense beneath is rarely found”!

At a simple, nontechnical level, globalization may be defined as “the act, process, or policy of making something worldwide in scope or application.”

A narrower definition focusing on economic openness, might be expressed in these terms: “globalization represents the increased speed, frequency, and magnitude of access to national markets by nonnational competitors.” Moreover, this definition is intended to cover all markets including social, cultural, recreational, intellectual property, literature, film, music, and sports as well as those for merchandise and commercial services.

Globalization has struck all the countries of the world like a turbulent wave, capturing attention by politicians, scholars, entrepreneurs, workers, farmers, and voters around the globe. Some see it as a good fortune for global economic development, and some consider it a dangerous threat, if not a disaster. In any event, the issue is important. People from different countries with differing points of view should seek to strengthen mutual understanding.

The 2000 conference in Beijing on “The Challenges of Globalization” addressed the following aspects of globalization:

1. Meaning and measurement of globalization.

2. Experience, lessons, and implications of globalization across countries and historically since the mid-19th century.

3. Issues facing the United States and China in relation to globalization including issues of the recent trends of the U.S. economy, the recent explosive development in the information technology industry and the role of innovation, and empirical examination and implications of economic integration across the Taiwan Strait.

The annual CRF–RAND conferences offer scholars and practitioners a forum to demonstrate and exchange views and ideas from their broad and diverse backgrounds. It provides a platform for scholars and officials to explore and explain current and future issues and policies—in the process enhancing mutual appreciation and understanding.

Visit China, the United States, and the Global Economy RAND Download Page

Edited by Shuxun Chen, Charles Wolf, Jr.

Published by RAND Corporation.

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This book contains the edited papers presented by Chinese and American scholars and practitioners at the second of four annual conferences organized by RAND in Santa Monica, and the China Reform Forum (CRF) in Beijing. The second conference was held at RAND on November 9–10, 1999, with about 30 participants including the authors and their discussants. The list of participants appears at the end of this volume.

The second CRF–RAND conference and the editing and other requisites for readying the original papers for publication could not have been accomplished without the generous support of several organizations and individuals. These include—besides the China Reform Forum and RAND—the Committee of 100 and Henry Tang, the Hoover Institution and John Raisian, the Capital Group Companies and Gina Despres, Lombard Investments and Joseph Chulick, the UCLA Center for International Studies and Richard Rosecrance, the Zhejiang Gateway International Investment Company and James Bitonti, and the Overland Group and Fred Liao.

It is a pleasure to acknowledge and express our appreciation for their support. It goes without saying that none of these organizations or individuals bears any responsibility for the content of the wideranging views and policy suggestions presented in the book.

Charles Wolf, Jr.
Santa Monica, California

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