Abdulmujib Yakubu

How China Controls the World How did China go from being an impoverished society to having the second-largest economy today? In today's connected world, we cannot underrate the influence of global power. Ranking as the world's second-largest economy and having a world-class military, it is clear just how much China exerts influence globally. The East Asian country always attracts attention for its growing influence on the world. And, it is not surprising to want to know how China basically controls the rest of the world. First and foremost, we just have to consider its population. China is home to more than 1.4 billion people on earth. To put this into perspective, the world's population is almost 8 billion, which makes China's population equivalent to almost 20 percent of the world's population. That's enough for it to continuously grab headlines. For a country with that many people, it only makes sense for it to be the world's largest manufacturer and exporter of goods, and one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. That's where it earns the name, “the world's factory” from. 1.4 billion people in a country translate to more workforce, more space occupied in general, and many others. But, it also faces a downside as well, which is expected. Since China is the world's largest manufacturer and exporter, it also consumes enormous quantities of natural resources, thereby putting pressure on the same system meant to provide the basic human needs of its citizens. To keep up with its rate of production, 241 million people work in the agricultural sector in China. This figure could make up two whole countries! In terms of land area, China is the third-largest country, and they make good use of their land for agricultural development. 13% of the country, totaling 127 million hectares of land is arable and is mostly found in Eastern China. And almost all of that land is cultivated. Since 1980 till date, the Chinese government has kept adding to that number through reclamations, especially from the border regions, with more than 41 million hectares converted to arable land. Some cultivated lands are still being added through conversions from other uses such as forestry and grasslands, while some are being used for the expansion of urban and industrial areas, approximately 8 million hectares each year. In terms of urbanization, the total number of inhabitants in China keeps growing even though the population growth has been declining over the years. A good percentage of these people now live in urban areas. All in all, whether it is land grazing, forestry, or mining and energy development, China utilizes its lands to the fullest. It can top most industries, thanks to its proper utilization of land, even though one-third of it is mountainous. Its water availability also contributes to agricultural and industrial usage, as well as countries downstream. China is home to the Yangtze, Asia's biggest and the third-longest river in the world. Thanks to its heavy industry, China will keep on playing a part in the global economy. Now, let's talk about the Chinese infrastructure projects throughout the continents. We're talking about Africa, Asia, and Latin America, where China's global dominance is evident. First starting with gradually modernizing its domestic market and infrastructure, China has moved onto the global infrastructure. This is evident in the Belt and Road Initiative a.k.a BRI across Asia, Africa, and Europe. The initiative by China aims to stretch around the world and was initiated in 2013, to connect Asia, Africa, and Europe through land and sea. This development plan is set to include highways, energy pipelines, railways, and 50 special economic zones. Also known as the New Silk Road, it was first conceived to link up East Asia and Europe. But, over the years, the project expanded to Africa, Latin America, and Oceania. The original Silk Road came about in 206 BCE to 220 CE and was brought about to create trade networks between China's Han dynasty, Central Asian countries, India, Pakistan, and some of Europe. The BRI will help enhance trade, economic advancement, and regional inclusion. China's infrastructure investment will open up a new era of trade and growth within and outside Asia. The three continents have been segregated for far too long, and China thought it wise to bring them closer through this initiative. It also greatly benefits from the movement by strengthening its economic and political alliance with 147 partner countries. Of course, some Belt and Road countries have opposed it, as well as the United States as they have feared the initiative could just be another means of China exerting its strong influence on the rest of the world. Trade relations between both countries; the United States and China have faced setbacks, so it is believed that this new initiative could just be another way for the Chinese Government to find new markets for its commodities; thereby strengthening it geopolitically and economically. The problem of rising costs to bring about the initiative is also one of the objections. China announced over $460 billion in lending to BRI projects, but nobody wants to keep borrowing and borrowing. The challenges of BRI keep growing; Sri Lanka and Myanmar are tied down with mounting debts, and India on the other hand, had turned down the initiative early enough, citing the need for territorial integrity, the participating countries’ sovereignty, benefit for the local economy, and others. Either way, if China is successful in achieving this great feat, it will also boost the international utility of the Chinese currency China, has once again, shown the world the dire need for transnational connectivity and infrastructure development, and the other top economies and global powers are scrambling to keep up. Japan, the US, and Australia are already working to contend against BRI. The BRI will be one of the world's most ambitious projects ever conceived, if not the most Enough about the BRI, let's talk about China's technological advancements, which have placed it as a leading light in innovation. Some of them include artificial intelligence, biotechnology, semiconductors, financial technology, space technology, autonomous and AI-driven weapon systems, surveillance technology, power grid cyber security, and 5G wireless technology. In recent years, China has become a strong contender for technological talent in the global competition. China has been known since time immemorial as a global copycat, however, we can't dismiss how much effort they have put into innovation. To give you a little picture of it all, China's hard-headed emulation helped out, because this country wasn't truly alive during the Industrial Revolution, but after. Their ever-growing population at the time had given them an advantage; an endless supply of cheap labour provided by hundreds of millions of workers born during the postwar baby boom. China used this edge to help contribute to the production of other countries’ innovations. It is now the first country to have as many of the fastest start-ups, reaching a $1 billion valuation. Whether it is high-adoptive and easily adapting citizens or innovation-driven change, China currently has a resource never seen before, and they are constantly utilizing it in different areas. Let's start with the fifth-generation a.k.a 5G network offered by Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications giant. Did you know that China has the world's leading 5G mobile market with about 750 million active subscribers? And, Huawei, a Chinese company is leading the list of the top 10 companies leading the 5G network and is the world's largest provider of 5G networks. Even though the 5G market was officially launched in October of 2019, it is already a huge force behind the global 5G industry, with its products and services highly adopted worldwide. More adoption of 5G will also mean more support for innovative use cases of 5G, and we can see this through China's Beijing's New Daxing airport, which employs the use of smart check-in, thanks to 5G-enabled cameras at check-ins and boarding gates. We're expecting to see and hear more from China's growing 5G market anyway. Before that, we're also putting our ears on the ground to discover more about the world's first 6G satellite launched by China's state-owned telecom operator. China has now become the first country to launch the world's first 6G test satellite. China's AI involvement in the military, academics, and economy cannot be overemphasized too. Tencent and Alibaba, among others, are some of the booming China-based companies embracing AI. Other than being one of the world's most powerful militaries, inviting soft power through its rich cultural heritage, and making commendable progress in diplomatic efforts, China is a powerful and influential economy that will not be slowing down anytime soon. China's theory of sinocentrism might just not be a hoax at this point. One of China's glaring challenges as of now is its demographic reality, thanks to the country's one-child policy officially implemented in 1979. This only means that there are no abundant millennials and Gen Zs to fill out the space from the disappearing baby boomers. The implications are strong as there won't be enough young workers to push further into its workforce, especially into its powerful manufacturing sector. So, does this mean they'll have to fall back on its continuous innovation over the years to support their growing aging population? How has China been able to tackle its global health and climate change concerns? 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