2.1. The impacts of globalisation on China & the UK

Question 1

Social benefits of globalisation in China;

How has globalisation affected Poverty in china?

Answer 1

● Reduced poverty rates (1981-2010 the number of people living in poverty was reduced by 680 million). Extreme poverty rate reduced from 84% in 1980 to 10% in 2016.
● Education is free and compulsory between ages 6-15. 94% of Chinese over the age of 15are literate. 2014 – 7.2 million Chinese graduated from uni (skilled workforce)

Question 2

Social benefits of globalisation in China;

How has the quality of life improved?

Answer 2

● Workers have 40 hour weeks, higher overtime rates and paid holidays.
● Sales of consumer items increased (more TVs bought than Americans in 2013)with higher aspirations of the Chinese

Question 3

Social benefits of globalisation in China;

How have political changes affected the Chinese socially?

Answer 3

● Chongqing – Hukou system relaxed for 8.4 million migrant farmers (cheap apartments/housing estates to prevent shanty town developments)
● More liberal and democratic society ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’, Olympic message ‘One world, one dream’ to improve international relations

Question 4

Social negatives of globalisation in China;

What are the problem associated with the the rate of growth?

Answer 4

● Informal settlements (land prices risen – decent housing is now unaffordable). People expand houses and develop farmland which is illegal under Chinese law.
● 100 cities suffer from extreme water shortages. 360 million Chinese do not have access to safe drinking water (e.g. in Chongqing 80/101 forbidden toxins are contained in tap water)

Question 5

Social negatives of globalisation in China;

describe the associated inequality.

Answer 5

● 0.47 Gini coefficient (growing inequality)
● Rural and urban inequality (construction site worker murdered 2 people over not receiving wages for 2 years)
● Urban poverty – high competition or jobs
● Informal, seasonal jobs (tourism)

Question 6

Economic positives of globalisation of China;

What is the GDP per capita?

Answer 6

● GDP/ capita is $7518, 300 million people considered to be urban middle class. Urban incomes have risen by 10% a year since 2005.

Question 7

Economic positives of globalisation of China;

How has the rural economy improved?

Answer 7

● Rural Household Responsibility System (pays farmers surpluses for their crops)– raised living standards of 800 million farmers. Exemption from agricultural taxes (100 million yuan saved in 2006) and raised costs of agricultural products by the government

Question 8

Economic positives of globalisation of China;

How has the economy improved in urban areas?

Answer 8

● Investment in infrastructure (2016: longest highway network, high-speed rail (HSR) system connects Beijing with Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen, Shanghai Maglev train
● 82 airports built since 2000 (total is 250)
● Special Economic Zones (e.g. Shantou in Guangdong province and Shenzhen) – core regions for economic growth
● Policies to alleviate financial burdens (50% increase to income since 1999)

Question 9

Economic positives of globalisation of China;

What shows China’s rapid economic growth?

Answer 9

● 2nd largest economy (achieved in 30 years)
● Cumulative causation (offices in Hong Kong moved to Shanghai and industry to Shenzhen.
● 7% GDP growth rate
● Low unemployment rate–in 2012 in was 4%

Question 10

Economic negatives of globalisation of China;

What are the spatial economic inequalities caused by the globalisation of China?

Answer 10

● Large variations/divide between rural and urban incomes (poorest 20% of rural households net earn is £412 compared to £9000 for the top 20%)
● 20% of the Chinese population live on less than $2 a day (rural areas)
● Periphery regions of the SEZs do not benefit

Question 11

Economic negatives of globalisation of China;

What resource pressure does China experience?

Answer 11

● Loss of farmland since 2000– 40% of China’s farmland is suffering from degradation (e.g. rich black northern soil eroding/ southern soils suffer from acidification by industrial emissions). 16 million acres loss to urbanisation in the last 20 years
● Resource pressure = additional resources imported from Africa and Latin America (over-exploitation of oil, coal and iron).

Question 12

What are the environmental benefits of the globalisation of China?

Answer 12

● Investment in the $25bn 3 Gorges Dam
● Ecomats placed to reduce dust and sand pollution in major cities
● Removal of old coal-fired factories
● Nationwide blueprint for climate change (15,000 factories report real time air emissions and water discharges)$275 billion pledged by the government over the next 5 years to improve emissions.
● Smog-Free Tower (vents that clear 30,000 m3 an hour)

Question 13

Environmental negatives of the globalisation of China;

Air pollution

Answer 13

● Air pollution – Beijing has frequent air pollution alerts (4400 people die a day in China because of air pollution (from electricity generation in coal-fired power stations [asthma, lung cancer and heart problems]).Roads covered in coal tar, houses covered in soot due to temperature inversions causing smogs. ‘Cancer village’ where the 20 out of 1000 people have recently died of cancer. Air pollution causes 40,000 premature deaths a year.

Question 14

Environmental negatives of the globalisation of China;

Water pollution

Answer 14

● 70% of China’s rivers and lakes are polluted. In 2004 25000 km of China’s rivers were too polluted to support aquatic life. 2/5 of river systems had water quality fit for human consumption, ¾ suffer from eutrophication.
● 3 Gorges Dam inundated 13 cities, 140 towns, 140 towns, 1352 villages and archaeological sites

Question 15

Environmental negatives of the globalisation of China;

Land pollution

Answer 15

● 3 million hectares of arable farmland has been polluted with heavy metals, 12 million tonnes of grain polluted in 2014.

Question 16

Environmental negatives of the globalisation of China;

biodiversity

Answer 16

● Loss of biodiversity (2015-terrestrial vertebrates declined 50% since 1970) by habitat loss and environmental degradation. Acid rain falls on 30% of the country (2005- 28 million tonnes of sulphur emitted) = contaminated crops, acidification of lakes and the destruction of forests.
● Resource pressures = clearing of Amazonian rainforest, Cerradora savannah converted to so fields, Venezuela Orinoco belt developed for oil.

Question 17

What are the political positives of globalisation in China?

Answer 17

● Member of WTO (access to foreign markets)
● Increased stability from increased economic activity
● 1978 Open Door Policy – reforms made by Deng Xiaoping to increase economic development. Foreign TNCs can invest in some sectors of China’s domestic markets (e.g. chemical industry), SEZs

Question 18

What are the political negatives of Globalisation in China?

Answer 18

● Hukou system – rural residents are denied the rights of city dwellers (e.g. denied access to urban housing and children cannot go to urban schools)Poor rural residents have to rely on remittance payments (reliance and dependence on urban areas)
● Neo-colonialism of the government (Dalai Lama in exile from Tibet/ umbrella protests)
● Restrictions by the government on films (only 34 foreign films screened in cinemas a year)
● Some ‘closed door’ approach to global flows – e.g. Facebook and Google have little/ no access to China’s market (they have Youku)

Question 19

Economic benefits of globalisation in the UK.

How has it improved the industry?

Answer 19

● Financial services and business services = 1/3 of UK exports
● Globalisation has allowed transferring production offshore = focus on higher value and high-skilled activities (research, product design, marketing etc) & access to larger markets
● UK firms forced to specialise to hold a comparative advantage (e.g. high tech industries, pharmaceuticals, scientific instruments etc) which promote highly qualified workers, innovation and research
● Development of knowledge-intensive services (in 2006 the UK was responsible for 25% of the world’s financial services export and 14% of computer services exports) due to advances in communications technology

Question 20

Economic benefits of globalisation in the UK.

How is the UK affected by investment?

Answer 20

● The UK is the second most attractive country in the world for FDI (most is from TNCs that are highly productive, fast-growing and transfer skills, technology and innovation). 2006 – foreign TNCs accounted or 35% for total turnover of manufacturing firms in UK & employed 20% of the workforce. E.G. Nissan’s Sunderland car plant is the most productive assembly point in Europe.
● London is a global city (supplies financial services) – major stock market and HQs of TNCs

Question 21

What are the environmental benefits of globalisation in the UK.

Answer 21

Investment in old industrial areas = environmental improvements (Norwich Riverside, Newcastle Quayside, Olympics site in east London were old industrial mills and textile factories)
● Increasing international cooperation (Kyoto Protocol, Montreal Protocol etc)
● Transport has improved (e.g. more efficient methods like the Eurostar) meaning less emissions are released

Question 22

What are the environmental negatives of globalisation in the UK?

Answer 22

● Visual pollution – scarring of landscape with dereliction (inner-city and urban waterfront areas) e.g. Peugeot’s 53 hectare Ryton manufacturing plant (2300 job losses)
● Increasing wealth = higher consumer demand (e.g. car ownership, air travel) → air pollution
● Population growth (2046 – 73 million) = environmental strain. Increased demand for land, water and other sources (London – high water demand due to 8.6 million population
● UK soils were deemed poorly managed and degraded by the UK National Ecosystem Assessment in 2011 → impacts on farming and erosion

Question 23

Economic negatives of globalisation in the UK.

What are the negative impacts of investment in the UK?

Answer 23

● Decline of manufacturing due to overseas competition (cheaper clothes in Asia (India & China) due to the low-wage economies = unemployment and deindustrialisation)
● Industrial dereliction (Sheffield steelworks [shift to Far East], Glasgow shipyards, South Wales coal mines, London docklands)
● Outsourcing/ disinvestment in UK businesses = direct job losses (cycle of deprivation). E.G. Norwich Union, Tesco and BA transferred many customer service jobs to India
● Loss of control – Japanese, Korean and US TNCs invest in new manufacturing plants in northern England, Scotland and Wales. This supports low-skilled operations (e.g. assembly) while highly skilled jobs (research, development and design) remain overseas

Question 24

What are the political positives of globalisation in the UK?

Answer 24

● International migration has reduced the costs of low-skilled labour and provided additional skills. The workforce are generally of working age (15-24 and 25-44 age groups were the majority in 2003) = significant contribution to GDP
● Trade barriers = protection for clothing and textile industries (EU 8% tariff placed on imports)
● Government task FDI to source components from UK companies (Toyota brings 65% of their component parts from local firms) – just-in-time processes
● Permanent immigration from outside the EU has a strict point system (qualifications, age and labour requirements) meaning society and the economy will benefit

Question 25

What are the political negatives of globalisation in the UK?

Answer 25

● Immigration – 600,000 people migrated to the UK from Eastern Europe from 2004-2006 = strain on public services.
● Corporation tax rates reduced to attract companies to invest in UK (10% CT rate). This attracts industry but reduces tax earnings for the UK
● Transfer pricing for tax minimisation – reduced amount of profit enters the UK economy and is leaked to foreign TNCs

Question 26

Social benefits of globalisation in the UK?;

How has globalisation benefited the average lifestyle?

Answer 26

● 0.34 Gini coefficient – growing equality (was 0.36 in 2007-08)
● Low-cost manufactured goods are imported from NICs which has kept inflation low
● UK families are £7000 better off (due to the reduced costs of goods and services [because of economies of scale] → sustained period of economic growth
● High levels of spending on education and health (high economic growth in 1990s and 200s)
(farmers - get fixed payments for wheat, sugar, beet and oil seed rape (subsidies for sheep and cattle)

Question 27

Social benefits of globalisation in the UK?;

How has globalisation affected culture in the UK?

Answer 27

● Increased cosmopolitan nature of UK (shared values, linked cultures, a more accepting society)

Question 28

Social benefits of globalisation in the UK?;

How has globalisation affected connectedness in the UK?

Answer 28

● Transport and communications revolution (London underground, London to Paris in 2 hours and 15 mins via the Eurostar). Increase in personal connectivity (Facebook, Twitter etc)

Question 29

Social negatives of globalisation in the UK?;

deindustrialisation

Answer 29

● Leicester – areas of deprivation (e.g. Belgrave and Stoneygate have 7% unemployment). Birmingham – spiral of deprivation
● Job losses are generally concentrated geographically, meaning periphery regions will be at risk (cumulative causation effect)

Question 30

Social negatives of globalisation in the UK?;

How has globalisation created uncertainty?

Answer 30

● TNCs can move investment away from the UK quickly = employment uncertainty (due to their economies of scale). TNCs can also outcompete local businesses

Question 31

Social benefits of globalisation in the UK?;

What social problems are caused by migration?

Answer 31

● Immigration = social cohesion problems due to differing cultures and values (e.g. Thetford in Norfolk absorbed large numbers of Portuguese immigrants). Strains on social services.