China Radio: Developing Western China
Earlier today I was on the Today show on China Radio International, talking about efforts to develop China’s western provinces. You can listen to it here.
China’s “Go West” program, designed to spur investment and help the country’s interior catch up with its more developed coastal regions, is ten years old, and we discuss some of the achievements as well as what remains to be done. It’s worth keeping in mind — as I note in the program — that the “West,” as the Chinese government defines it, really embraces three distinct regions (as I defined them in the Nine Nations of China): Shangri-La, the Refuge, and the Frontier. In our conversation, we talk about the potential of these regions’ natural resources, the area’s strategic importance to China, the challenges posed by infrastructure and education (including “brain drain”), and the sensitive topic of how development affects the regions’ native ethnic groups.
Yesterday evening I was on CCTV News BizAsia, and here are some links to short clips of me commenting on the latest slowdown in China’s industrial output figures and worries that Japan’s sky-high debt levels might lead to a Greek-style crisis.
