The Economist has an interesting article which exemplifies the changes in China's position within the World Order. The first point in the article is that shipping rates (the costs of moving cargoes such as iron ore, coal, and grain, have been rising rapidly, e.g. up 154% compared with 2006.
China's demand for iron ore has outstripped the ability of its suppliers Australia and China to provide sufficient ore, so China has been importing from elsewhere, for example Brazil. Australia's share of China's iron ore imports has fallen from about 70% 15 years ago to 40% now, because of the increase in other suppliers. However, Brazil is much further from China than Australia and India, and the cargo ships take three times as long.
Similarly, China used to be a net exporter of coal as recently as 2001, but now it is neutral, and may become a net importer of coal. Which has impacted nearby countries such as Japan and South Korea who used to import coal from China, but who now import it from much further afield.
These movements reflect a tipping point. China used to import advanced goods and export raw materials. It now imports raw materials and exports mid-range goods (plus PCs), soon it will be exporting high-end goods, and importing luxury goods.
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