News Release of the “2010 Blue Book of National Competitiveness No.1” 

Publish Date：2014-04-29 15:13:09

Published: 14:31:39 Jan 21, 2014

 Released by CASS  The “2010 Blue Book of National Competitiveness” pointed out that The ranking of China’s national competitiveness rose steadily from the world’s No. 73 in 1990 to No. 17/  China had entered into the fastest growing period since the modern times.

  On October 25, 2010, jointly organized by the CASS Institute of Finance and Trade Economics and the Social Sciences Academic Press, the news conference and symposium of the “2010 Blue Book of National Competitiveness” and the award ceremony of Sun Yefang Economic Science Foundation’s “Elite Youth Scholarship” was held in Beijing, and the 2010 Blue Book of National Competitiveness was released. The Blue Book focused on the issue of enhancing China’s national competitiveness, discussed the opportunities and challenges China’s facing in the context of economic globalization, explored the contents and degrees of using for reference, cooperation and catching up between countries. It also put forward strategies and countermeasures for China to enhance its national competitiveness.

Blue Book noted that since the 1990s, China had been gradually integrated with the world’s major civilizations, with its competitiveness steadily rising. It was the fastest growing period since the beginning of the modern times. The nearly 20 years from 1990 to 2008 witnessed a significant change in China’s national competitiveness. In 1990, China’s only ranked 73 in the global national competitiveness ranking, but in 2008, it moved up to No. 17.  

In the process of rising in national competitiveness, there was a decline from 1994 to 1996, but then it rebounded strongly. From 1996 to 1998 and from 2005 to 2008 were the two faster development periods for national competitiveness, which were also the two strategic opportunity periods for China’s development. In the 21st century, China’s national competitiveness continued to rise in adjustment. Until now, it has ranked as the world’s top 20.  

The Blue Book argued that China’s national competitiveness went through a difficult spiral upward trend along with China’s development. China’s efforts and achievements were so remarkable that they once again proved that China’s reform and opening up should take the credit. Meanwhile, the Blue Book also pointed out that the national competitiveness is a comprehensive reflection of the strength of a nation; it not only reflected in the economic output, but also in the nation’s economic efficiency, economic structure, development potential and innovative capacity, etc.

From the perspective of scale competitiveness, China’s total GDP was huge and ranked in the world’s forefront; currently it was almost in top 3. In terms of growth competitiveness, China had maintained a long-term leading edge with a potential in steady growth. The Blue Book regard that China’s real economic boom began in 1992. During 1990 and 1991, China’s ranking in growth competitiveness were No. 13 and No 6 respectively, while by 1992, China’s ranking in growth competitiveness became No.1 in the world. Over the next 10 next years, China’s growth competitiveness had not dropped out of the top 5, and maintained a strong growth momentum.

However, the Blue Book also pointed out that during the 10 years from the 1990s to the early 21st century, China’s growth speed in scale competitiveness was getting slower and slower. It took one year to rise from No. 10 to the No. 9, while rising from No. 7 to No. 6 took five years. The Blue Book analyzed that despite the base effect, this was more because that China was unable to find a new economic growth point and the extensive growth model was not sustainable. For this reason, if China wanted to continue to enhance the scale competitiveness, it not only had to expand the volume, but also to work on the structure and efficiency to accelerate economic restructuring.  

Finally, after a comprehensive analysis of China’s structural competitiveness, and innovation competitiveness, the Blue Book noted that behind the two crowns in the scale competitiveness and growth competitiveness ranking, there was a serious potential problem, i.e., China’s backward industrial structure and the low ranking of it. China’s nearly 20 years of long-term economic growth was not achieved by upgrading the industrial structure, but by the consumption of resources and the expansion of investment, especially in the development and expansion of the real estate industry. Such industrial structure lacked competitiveness. Therefore, China must immediately start the transformation of economic growth mode, and try to find an effective way to enhance the structural competitiveness. In addition, the Blue Book also showed the noteworthy point that the overall efficiency of China’s current competitive world was still in the lower side of the world level; in terms of innovation and competitiveness, although China showed the strength to do catch-ups, Japan and Korea were still far ahead of China, and ranked the top two in the world. Therefore, China should be open-minded to study from Japan and Korea, keep the fighting spirit to work down to earth, and constantly improve the innovation capability to enhance national competitiveness.

 (See in 2010 Blue Book of National Competitiveness “Report on National Competitiveness of China No.1”, Social Sciences Academic Press, October 2010.)

 Released by CASS The “2010 Blue Book of National Competitiveness pointed out that China should

Strive to enter the top five of the G20 by 2020, become the world’s second power second only to the United States in 2050

Use the “staircase catch-up strategic” to help China become one of the most competitive countries in the world 

The Blue Book noted that in today’s increasingly fierce competitive environment, constantly improving the country’s competitiveness was the key to success. The overall strategic goals of China s national competitiveness as depicted in the Blue Book was: By 2020, China would become a developed country with strong comprehensive power, first class in key areas, and above the average on the whole. Strong comprehensive power means that China’s national competitiveness would reach world’s leading level, i.e., entering top five of the G20; first class in key areas means that China would meet or exceed the world’s leading level in some critical areas, such as high and new technologies, and build an innovative country; above the average on the whole refers to that all China’s national competitiveness indicators would ranked in the front pack with no short board, and become a moderately developed countries. By 2030, China’s comprehensive national competitiveness would rank just after the United States and the European Union; by 2050, China would become world’s second power second only to the United States.

While proposing China’s overall strategic objectives in the national competitiveness, the Blue Book also pointed out the method to achieve the strategic goal, i.e., the “staircase catch-up strategy”. In this way, China would gradually improve its national competitiveness, and ultimately become one of the world’s most competitive nations.

Specifically, the “staircase catch-up strategy” means led by high-end industries, focusing on strategic industries, competitive scale, multi-cooperation, national marketing, internal and external interaction, and system innovation. Led by high-end industries means to vigorously develop high-end industries to enhance the position of domestic industries in the global value chain system. It could be done not only by attracting foreign direct investment or undertake international industrial transfer to introduce foreign high-end industries, but also rely on technological innovation or high-end industries achieved by industrial convergence. It should not only ensure the advantages of traditional industries and employment channels, but also avoid industry discontinuity and vacuum after the strategy of “vacating the cage to change the bird”. Focusing on strategic industries means to concentrate on the superior resources and focus on the development of the seven strategic industries, such as energy-saving and environmental protection, emerging information industry, bio-industry, new energy, new energy vehicles, high-end equipment manufacturing, and new materials, and use these commanding heights to enhance China’s overall development.  

Meanwhile, the Blue Book pointed out that since 2009, 14 Chinese provinces had entered into the trillion club. The wealthy local powers were constantly emerging, marking the age of one China’s province competing with the one country. China should use its scale advantages to grasp the winning point of the global dynamic strategy and affect the regional and global markets, and to realize market for technology, scale for cutting costs. In addition, from the perspective of population, China also had the advantage that was not to be underestimated. If the rural consumer demands were full released, China’s domestic demand would become a strong driving force to support the nation’s economic development.

Finally, the Blue Book also highlighted the importance of national marketing. Developed countries such as the United States and Germany designed a variety of marketing methods to promote their country’s images. The national marketing has become the core “weapon” for the rich to get richer. China, while expanding scale, was also in an urgent need to further improve the quality and marketing brand to enhance the image of China, to let more people know about Chinese products, humanities and environment, and to increase China’s attractiveness and appeal. Meanwhile, China should also actively promote the notion of its development path mode to avoid misunderstandings. The marketing of the Chinese national brand would be the expansion and conductivity of soft power, which would have a huge influence.  

(See in 2010 Blue Book of National Competitiveness “Report on National Competitiveness of China No.1”, Social Sciences Academic Press, October 2010.)

 Released by CASS The “2010Blue Book of National Competitiveness” pointed out that

China’s formation of the index of human capital was only 1/12 of the United States, and 1/10 of Japan China’s human capital had a huge volume but a rather low quality; the rise of India should not be overlooked

The Blue Book noted that with the huge population advantage, China ranked first and was far ahead in the total amount of human capital among the G20 countries. This was due to the growing popularity of higher education in China. However, China ranked just 18for five consecutive years in the human capital formation index, which could better reflect a country’s level of human capital level. China’s index value was only 1/12 of the United States, and 1/10 of Japan. The human capital formation index reflected the proportion of people with bachelor degree or above, skilled personnel, engineers and scientists. From 2004 to 2008, the United States and Japan has dominated the top two of the ranking of human capital formation ranking, with Canada moving from No.4 to No.3, also showing a strong competitive edge. This showed that although China had large total human resources, the proportion of skilled personnel, engineers and scientists was very low, and the overall quality of the labor force was not high.  

Meanwhile, the Blue Book also pointed out that in 2008, India ranked first in the human capital of the G20 countries. The second was Indonesia, followed by Russia, and the United States. In this field, China ranked in the front pack and increased from No. 6 in 2004 to No. 5 in 2008, but its index value was only 1/2 of India’s, showing that there were still large room for improvement.  

In aspects of education and health, the Blue Book also pointed out that China’s education and health index was 0.453 in 2008, ranking 14th of the G20, moving up for two rankings. The progress was obvious, but the gap with the EU countries was still enormous. China showed a greater disadvantage in the enrollment in higher education, the number of doctors per thousand people, and the access to improved sanitation facilities. This was not consistent with the image of China being a large power. Especially in China’s higher education index, which had been ranked No. 4 after the EU, the US, and Japan, its index value was less than 1/10 of the EU and 1/3 of the US.. The world famous universities were mainly in Europe and the US. The EU as a whole had a huge advantage, with few other countries matching its status. Although China had become a large country in higher education with a huge number of universities, the overall level of these universities was not high, and it especially lacked a number of world-class universities.  

In terms of the financial system, the Blue Book regarded that the top three countries in global financial system in 2008 were the United States, Canada and Japan, followed by the UK and Germany. China ranked No. 12, which was rather back on the list, but over the past five years, China’s ranking rose from No. 18 in 2004 and 2005 to No. 11 in 2007. Although it made progress fast, China still had a low financial system index, with no match for the United States. In addition, China’s deposit and lending rates was higher than other countries, indicating that China’s banking industry had higher margins, which was conducive to the development of the financial industry.  

In the filed of arts and cultural competitiveness, the Blue Book regarded that from 2004 to 2008, the EU, Japan, and the United States ranked the top three in the cultural competitiveness. China moved up from No.5 to No. 4, slightly higher than the UK and Germany. EU had the maximum number of world heritage, reaching 284, followed by Italy (44); China (38) ranked No. 3 of the G20. In addition, in the artistic talent index, China firmly ranked No. 1, which was slightly higher than the EU, and much higher than the United States by nearly two-fold. This showed that China had a large number of artistic talents, and its art and cultural base was strong. The Blue Book predicts that with the rise of China, the attractiveness of Chinese culture will become increasingly strong, and China is likely to develop into a cultural powerhouse in the future.  

(See in 2010 Blue Book of National Competitiveness “Report on National Competitiveness of China No.1”, Social Sciences Academic Press, October 2010.)