Source: China Daily

04-27-2009 15:03

It is too early to claim victory over the economic crisis, as political and economic leaders are doing in the world to raise public confidence.

At best, things have stabilized somewhat. There are still some discouraging statistics around. And there will be many great challenges lying ahead, as some of the so-called green shoots perhaps get a chance to grow.

People cannot afford the luxury of imagining that if we keep going like this, the economy will begin to pick up, and once it does, it will be following the same old pattern as in the years leading to the crisis.

China cannot expect to export its way out of the crisis just because in some sectors, there is a growth in demand for some merchandise.

It cannot expect to keep up so much industrial capacity (such as the capacity to produce 600 million tons of steel a year) just because Beijing's stimulus policies are temporarily holding up the demand.

Nor can it expect to relocate its redundant rural labor entirely to the manufacturing sector. No matter how globalization develops, the world cannot keep generating demand for the work of half of China's population in the factories.

Equally important, there simply are not enough resources - from raw materials to clean water and air - for building China into an ever-enlarging manufacturing power.