Canada-China Friedship Society-Ottawa Chapter is presenting a talk on:
CHINA’S ECONOMIC GROWTH AND ITS CHALLENGES
by Dr. Sen Wang
Economist, Privy Council Office, Ottawa
Thursday, January 11, 2007 at 7:30 p.m.
Library and Archives Canada, Room 156
395 Wellington Street, Ottawa
All are welcome.
Since the late 1970s when China embarked on economic reforms and opened to the outside world, the country has achieved a phenomenal growth rate ? about 10% per year on average. Its overall size reached $2.3 trillion in 2005, surpassing UK to become the world’s fourth largest economy. The total volume of merchandise trade in 2006 is estimated to exceed $1.7 trillion, with a trade surplus of $150 billion. China is replacing Germany as the world’s second largest trading nation, next only to the US. The country’s foreign exchange reserves are now more than $1 trillion.
China’s rapid economic growth has huge environmental costs. The major challenges China is facing include: population pressure, energy crunch, environmental decline, and regional and social inequality. Several mega-infastructure projects are changing the country’s landscape, such as the West-to-East Natural Gas Pipeline, Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the Three Gorges Dam, and the South-to-North Water Diversion project. China is taking measures to clean up the air and water in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Further, the government is seeking to build a harmonious society to ease regional disparities and social inequality.
Dr. Sen Wang is an economist with the Liaison Secretariat for Macroeconomic Policy in the Privy Council Office, Ottawa, where he is involved in analyses of a range of issues including the role of the natural resources sectors (i.e. energy, minerals and metals, and the forest sector) in the Canadian economy. He is on leave from the Forest Service of Natural Resources Canada, Trade and Economic Research Program, Victoria, B.C. where he was concerned with developing a comprehensive knowledge base on the global forest sector, and on future positioning of Canada’s forest industry. He undertook research on Canada’s competitiveness in the international forest products market with emphasis on the United States, Europe and Asia. Sustainable forest management and the various linkages between forestry and the environment were focal areas of his research. Dr. Wang is an Associate Member of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Victoria. He has also conducted research at the University of British Columbia, Forest Economics and Policy Analysis Unit, and worked previously for the Ministry of Forestry in Beijing, China.
Dr. Wang has an MSc and PhD from the University of British Columbia, and a BA in Modern Languages and Literature from Beijing.
*******************
A free-will collection will cover the cost of refreshments. For further information about the event call Lolan Merklinger at 819-777-8434.
CHINA’S ECONOMIC GROWTH AND ITS CHALLENGES
by Dr. Sen Wang
Economist, Privy Council Office, Ottawa
Thursday, January 11, 2007 at 7:30 p.m.
Library and Archives Canada, Room 156
395 Wellington Street, Ottawa
All are welcome.
Since the late 1970s when China embarked on economic reforms and opened to the outside world, the country has achieved a phenomenal growth rate ? about 10% per year on average. Its overall size reached $2.3 trillion in 2005, surpassing UK to become the world’s fourth largest economy. The total volume of merchandise trade in 2006 is estimated to exceed $1.7 trillion, with a trade surplus of $150 billion. China is replacing Germany as the world’s second largest trading nation, next only to the US. The country’s foreign exchange reserves are now more than $1 trillion.
China’s rapid economic growth has huge environmental costs. The major challenges China is facing include: population pressure, energy crunch, environmental decline, and regional and social inequality. Several mega-infastructure projects are changing the country’s landscape, such as the West-to-East Natural Gas Pipeline, Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the Three Gorges Dam, and the South-to-North Water Diversion project. China is taking measures to clean up the air and water in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Further, the government is seeking to build a harmonious society to ease regional disparities and social inequality.
Dr. Sen Wang is an economist with the Liaison Secretariat for Macroeconomic Policy in the Privy Council Office, Ottawa, where he is involved in analyses of a range of issues including the role of the natural resources sectors (i.e. energy, minerals and metals, and the forest sector) in the Canadian economy. He is on leave from the Forest Service of Natural Resources Canada, Trade and Economic Research Program, Victoria, B.C. where he was concerned with developing a comprehensive knowledge base on the global forest sector, and on future positioning of Canada’s forest industry. He undertook research on Canada’s competitiveness in the international forest products market with emphasis on the United States, Europe and Asia. Sustainable forest management and the various linkages between forestry and the environment were focal areas of his research. Dr. Wang is an Associate Member of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Victoria. He has also conducted research at the University of British Columbia, Forest Economics and Policy Analysis Unit, and worked previously for the Ministry of Forestry in Beijing, China.
Dr. Wang has an MSc and PhD from the University of British Columbia, and a BA in Modern Languages and Literature from Beijing.
*******************
A free-will collection will cover the cost of refreshments. For further information about the event call Lolan Merklinger at 819-777-8434.
