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Subscribe to RSSA Chinese protester disrupts World Bank President Robert Zoellick during a press conference in Beijing Tuesday shouting, "this report from the World Bank is poison!" NBC's Ed Flanagan reports.
BEIJING – These days it seems everyone has an opinion about what China’s economy needs to do to continue to prosper.
Yesterday was the World Bank’s turn to give its two cents as it released a new joint-report with the Chinese Development Research Center entitled, “China 2030: Building a Modern, Harmonious, and Creative High-Income Society.”
The ambitious report attempts to lay out a new development strategy for China that emphasizes a gradual transition to a market economy, serious economic and labor reform and an eventual shift from an economy powered by state-owned businesses to private enterprise.
It was that latter condition that appeared to be a step too far for Du Jianguo who created a stir during a press conference by World Bank President Robert Zoellick at the bank’s Beijing headquarters Tuesday.
Du, a self-described “independent scholar of politics and economics,” stood up as Zoellick was talking and began to shout slogans like, “state-owned industry should not be privatized!” and “this report from the World Bank is poison!”
He also handed out an essay he had written, aptly titled, “WB [World Bank] Go home with your poison!”
Privatization debate
Du was pulled from the room by staff, but continued his protest outside where he claimed that the World Bank was corrupting China’s banking sector so much that it was beginning to resemble what he deemed a terrible role model: Wall Street.
“The World Bank wants Chinese banks to become like Wall Street,” said Du. “Do they want Chinese banks to turn into liars and parasites?”
Back inside the conference room, Zoellick acknowledged the intense debate that his bank’s report had generated in China between nationalists and economic liberalizers on the mainland, but defended it by saying that was “the point of any good research report.”
The debate comes at a sensitive time in China as it gears up for a leadership change later this year and a possible change in economic strategy under presumed future-President Xi Jinping.
The drive for greater economic liberalization and an increased focus on private enterprise by supporters of the study would come at the expense of expansive governmental support for state-owned enterprises that have become economic titans in China due to access to low-cost credit from state banks and protection from foreign competitors.
Proponents of the state-driven model argue that state-owned enterprises are a source of national strength and pride and should be protected.
Not so say others, who argue that private enterprise actually creates more jobs in China and should be nurtured to spur renewed growth.
Such proponents of economic liberalization will face a tough slog against men like Du, who are unabashed skeptics of the World Bank and made it a point to say so.
"We have no reason to accept their poison,” said Du later of the World Bank. “After they ruin China, they will ruin the whole world."
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So he wants his country to keep manipulating the markets to suit them and not have to deal on a level playing field with the rest of the world. It is bad enough that China does not honor intellectual properties, they steal what they want and to hell with the laws of the international community. China is a world thug and will have to come to terms with its global attitude soon enough.
Personally, I can't tell which banking system is the bigger liar and parasite! I think it's a toss up.
Wall Street takes the prize, the cake, and the cigar as the biggest scammers and looters in history.
China would not have the wealth it does if not for the stupidity of Western corporations, politicians and consumers. Everyone knows what the CCP is about, and you have only yourselves to blame for the current situation. When the Chinese are all driving Buicks, your children will be living in tents.
Dont blame the chinese for doing what is good for China. We could learn a lot from them in terms of putting our countries interests first and not cow towing to international companies that will sell us out for a buck. We should try to beat them at their own game not complain about them doing what is good for them.
I for one do not want our government learning ANYTHING from an authoritarian regime that brutally suppresses dissent, political opposition, free expression, and worker's rights.
I'm quite glad that the industrial revolution was over by the time I was born, thank you, and I'd rather we not return to those days.
I have no complaints about China doing "what's good for them", but the article is about the World Bank giving them advice on "what's better for them". China's done all right, but it still has problems and inefficiencies, and the WB is just giving advice to deal with them. Besides, it's not like anyone's forcing them, here.
um.... not trying to be a troll, but you should look up 'industrial revolution'.... your use of it, and allusions to it being over indicate you haven't a hot damn clue what it is. Perhaps you were aiming at using "the peoples revolution of china" (aka the cultural revolution) instead?
So you are a glass half empty kind of person. I in no way was trying to say we need to adopt thier civil rights abuses, simply looking out for our country's best interest. We could learn from them in that regard, because we constantly sell ourselves out. Companies have no patriotism anymore or nationalism, only as far as the money will take them.
I did not clarify properly, forgive me.
I was referring to the beginnings of the industrial revolution, before the onset of the worker's rights movement. Things like sweatshops, factory towns, and completely unregulated labor markets. I'm not a big fan of unions, but they brought about many changes in our country that I'm grateful for.
As for you John, a government exists to serve it's people, not "the country", and a company exists to enrich its owners (the fact that many of them provide valuable products and services is just a happy side-effect).
I for one find nothing to envy about China, aside from maybe their train network (which has horrific crashes every once in a while, but whatcha gonna do?).
SF Accountant,
I appreciate your comments about the onset of the worker's reights movement. Unfortunately, we seem to have forgotten what it was like in our country prior to the advent of unions. We can see that all of the gains that were made since the 1880's are quickly being abolished. In many states they are actively working to strip us of all the benefits and want a return to child labor, elimination of minimum wages, and maximum work hours.
Thank you Big John, totally correct. More power to this guy. China will never privatize their state-owned banks and its a joke the World Bank or any other country would put pressure on them to do so. Look what corporate greed did to the people of the world? Crippling the US and Europe. F*** the big banks and the 1%. I agree with China on this one.
Government action around unions has been more around Public Employee unions as opposed to those in the private sector. Not one of the proposals has been to incorporate child labor or increase working hours. Those issues are now dealt with by state and federal law.
Having said that, this particular protestor should take a look at how Chinese workers are treated by the government backed factories. Chinese workers are getting the short end of the stick when compared to our typical worker, most of whom are not in a union. I don't know if a union movement would help in China, though. The government is in a tough spot. You give the workers rights and a reasonable wage then the corporations pull out and you have a billion poor mouths to feed. You don't and you're going to have a riot eventually when 100s of millions get fed up from having to work in the conditions they do.
Until we reach a tipping point in the US where we only buy goods that are produced in (enter your cause here), there will be a demand for cheaply made products produced in a way where Americans can't or won't do the work for the price the Chinese/Indians/Central Americans will. Even worse, we'll probably complain about the cost still.
so called "World Bank" and "IMF" is really a PARASITE on the face of the earth. This parasite has ruined billions of ppl life around the globe
cow towing? they are pulling cows around? You mean Kou Tou or kòutóu, to knock one's head. :D
China has been flooding Freedom loving countries with super-cheap goods which has almost killed the U.S. manufacturing base, China has been killing "un-armed Tibetan Monks", backing Syria's Assad while he kills women and children, threatening anyone that wants to travel in the South China Sea, China has been backing people like Hugo Chavez who wants to be another Kim Jung-Ill or Castro in Cuba... Why should I give a damn about China's concerns about the World Bank.... If it does hurt China as equally as China has hurt the U.S. - I am ALL for it.... oh, and I hope the Chinese people rise up against their Communist Leaders and turn into a Freedom loving, democracy....
"...oh, and I hope the Chinese people rise up against their Communist Leaders and turn into a Freedom loving, democracy....” therefore they can go bankrupt and be controlled by the West both economically and militarily and loose their capabilities to compete with us forever, just like Euro or Jap.
Complete your sentence, Scott!! What r u afraid of?
Uh, Europe is part of "the West", and Japan is still the 3rd biggest economy in the world... Neither are bankrupt, either.
Your post makes some rather curious assumptions, there.
What makes you think Europe is apart of the west? Japan is the deepest in debt by the way and not a good example for you.
Flooding freedom loving countries with super-cheap goods. Ask your neighbor why is he the one importing them? Ask why all US companies setup manufacturing bases there?. Its the American people bringing it on themselves (I am Amercian btw). There you go about tiben-monks. How about doing research and see that under Dalai lama and all lamas before their freedom, which the Chinese gave them, were Serfs which means they were slaves. BS comment and just naive.
Japan's dept is to its own banks and companies, not to foreign countries. And it is not China that is flooding global markets with really cheap products, it is the companies such as Nike, Apple (assembled in China), and Sony that base their factories in China (remember the Nike sweatshops?) to make up for expensive salaries for workers in their own country as opposed to the price of a worker in china. But to be honest, If it weren't for World War 2, the United States would have full world market domination seeing as 4.5 million Latinos were let in from the borders to make up for the workforce that shifted towards the war effort. When WWII Ended, the able bodied people suitable for work in a factory decided that factory work is not their preferred sector and now most would rather be jobless and retain their pride than slave away in factories. Now because of the State Immigration laws in the south, the illegal workforce, that used to harvest for the farm owners, all left the region. Now the farm owners have to resort to a white non Hispanic or black workforce. The majority of the black population would consider it an insult and compare it to the slavery times, so that's a no-go, and the white non Hispanics would quit within a day, deeming the job "too hard" or complaining that it does not offer enough benefits. This goes to show that Americans are living up to their global lazy reputation. Let the Chinese do what they want, because with 1,338,299,512 people (2010 census) and counting, there aren't other solutions to keep the population in work. If you think about it, the Chinese censorship of foreign media (Music, Films, etc) creates a demand for media produced in their own country, and when supply meets demand, that fuels the economy. And I, being a conspiracy theory nut, think that the train crashes are intentional to make construction companies busy and recruit more workers. Not sure.
Thank you, Ryan! Finally, some accurate information for a change.
Folks, before you applaud how Japan is a powerful economy, please remind yourself that Japan has been in a recession for decades for following orders from the U.S. In the 1970s, exports was driving Japan's economic growth and led to an enormous trade deficit by the U.S. Washington started putting pressure on Japan for "financial reform" to increase the value of the Japanese yen against the U.S. dollar, thus making US exports relatively less expensive and Japanese exports more expensive. Japan fell to Washington's pressure out of fear of more protectionist measure that we would take. Since then, Japan has been in a recession that, to this day, it has not be able to crawl out of. Just another example of the west using its muscles to bully other countries at their detriment. Beijing has learned from Japan's past.
Regarding the Chinese trains, Americans should actually ride these trains and see the value in such a developed public transportation system. It is such a huge convenience for the average Chinese citizens (and foreign tourists alike). Instead of looking at the number of accidents, the much more telling measure of safety would be to look at the RATE of accidents... which is minor in consideration of the frequency and availability of trains.
Finally, so typical of people to romanticize Tibet, as if reading the NY Times and watching a Brad Pitt movie would ever educate you on the accurate history of Tibet. Prior to the 1900s, Tibet had been a part of China for centuries. Only in the early and mid-1900s did European forces interfere and put the Dalai Lama in power. During that time, as Ryan had mentioned, Tibet was in a state of serfdom. The religious figures were in power, and everyone else, the overwhelming majority of Tibetans, were serfs (as in SLAVES) and lived in very poor conditions. In the past few decades, China regained its control over Tibet and brought along education, healthcare, and enormous subsidies for the average Tibetan. Reports of isolated violence are just that, very isolated, regardless of how much our media loves to paint a different picture.
Mainstream media loves to demonize anyone in the world who disagrees with us, but we shouldn't be manipulated in how we understand the rest of the world.
Americans say that America is the greatest nation, The richest and the smartest people in the world.Yes this was true but I guess you have noticed that India and the rest of Asia are catching up very fast and if they keep this momentum going they soon be the greatest ,richest and smartest in the world... Everything goes in cycles remember China ,India and Japan were developed long before Columbus discovered the "new world"
Asia has about three billion people and if they have one third of that population well educated ,that will be more than all of Europe and America..Do you see them bowing to the west ...They will be forming their own Alliances based on what is good for them not what is good for Europe or America. So if somehow they see that there is something better for them than the world bank then they would push for change ..They have talked about it already...
Capitalist market economists are often clueless on how a socialist market economy works. China's socialist market economy has done very well for more than 30 years already and still has great potential for the next 30 years as China's urbanization has just crossed its mid-point. China has done well by following her own economic development path in accordance with her national conditions and it is insanity to adopt an economic model that has proven to concentrate the national wealth in less than 1% of the population with uncontroversial economic disasters. What China must guard against is the gradual evolution of the socialist market economy towards a capitalist market economy like what has happened in the other East Asian economies like Singapore.
I think you are incorrect. When it comes to product manufacturing it is China who is capitalist and America who is kleptokratic.
China is still very much a Communist dictatorship in many ways, i.e. property and human rights.
LPC, another OWS victim. China has artificially kept it's currency undervalued for decades, a feat that only a Communist run country to enforce at the expense of their people, and it is nothing but a ticking economic time bomb should they have get called to the carpet if the rest of the major world economies that prop them up happen to collapse.
In addition, you can find a 1% extremely wealthy demographic in any country in the world. I have no doubt than in China the communist regime and crony businessmen have most of the wealth of that country. I have visited their factories and impoverished urban towns surrounding them. In every culture there will always be haves and have-nots. Grow a brain, learn to use it and quit whining that life is unfair, because guess what? Life isn't fair!
Truth_Hurts, the truth does hurt, indeed. Japan has been accused, by the U.S., of undervaluing its currency because the U.S. had a trade deficit. The U.S. doesn't ever seem to have a problem with the value of foreign currency when it has a trade surplus... now why do you think that is?
And yes, crony businessmen and politicians in China do hold a significant amount of wealth, much like the U.S. But rest assured that when they run off to the U.S., the Chinese government will extradite them and bring them to justice. Chinese people do not love their billionaire businessmen and politicians, unlike Americans, who apparently think those people should be nominated for the presidency.
So what does the Wold Bank have to say about the USA? Continue to spend and borrow without any semblance of fiscal discipline?
That's right because spending your way out of debt is the Obamalution.
Scott: You are expecting the "imperalist running dogs" to help you out. They are not in China though. You sounded like a sour loser or a propaganda brain-washed product.
Um...newsflash...the Chinese government run banks are already of highly suspect ethics at best. Besides, maintaining an artificially low Chinese currency is more despicable and corrupt than anything you claim Wall Street to be.
Quote of the week:
“The World Bank wants Chinese banks to become like Wall Street,” said Du. “Do they want Chinese banks to turn into liars and parasites?”
You are correct Du, Wall Street is filled with liars and parasite. To answer your question, why yes they do Du.
End the World Bank!
End the Fed! Bernanke to jail!
And replace it with what?
What do you think that's going to accomplish? Some people actually NEED these institutions, you know.
the SEC is one institution that we have that malfunctions every day. just ask your local politician.
Here everyone sit down relax and have some dip....GEORGE CARLIN
No I think we should wait WITH China and Russia and see if Iran can start a WORLD WAR lll
"We have no reason to accept their poison,” said Du later of the World Bank. “After they ruin China, they will ruin the whole world." Another great quote. Thank you Du.
China started controling the worlds economy by controling their currency;profitting unfairly pegging there products at low prices so no other country could compete. Even someone at smart as you can see this; or are you just in denial?
Well I'm not in denial at all. China is creating its own humongous disaster with its currency manipulation just like the US is doing.
You'll notice there is no one watching the greed in this country. Where were the laws for all these banks giving out loan after loan to people who could not even purchase a bagel never mind a house. Talk about blind leading the blind....Yeah this country has highly intellegent people....They're too busy focusing on the MINE....MINE....MINE...THEORY. Friggin seagulls....Don;t tax me at 35% I HAVE MONEY. YEAH I make about 3 million every 3 months.
We do have people "watching the greed" in this country (ever heard of the SEC?), and we DO have laws that keep banks from lending excessively such that a market crash will cause them to go under. Your basic assumptions are incorrect.
That means, of course, that those things failed when there was a market problem. That's right, government proved incapable of properly handling and controlling the private sector. Shocking, I know.
I don't think people should necessarily trust corporations or banks, but it boggles my mind how they can trust government.
SF Account, people should NOT trust the government when it is simply a puppet for corporations and banks. Of course there is no effective governance of the private sector, can you say conflict of interest? Funny how the U.S. then loves to tell others how to run their countries.
I think all the forclosures in this country should be reevaluated and if the purchaser was well positioned in the purchase then they get a forclosure....If they were given a loan just to show off their LEG AT A OSCAR AWARDS PROGRAM then the foreclosure should be null and void.
No accountability is the name of the game.
China is a diabolical force,like our bankers.We need to "insist" that these people work more for the common good,or at least unf**k the economy.The right 'persuasion' would help.We need to be free of CHina.We need to be cozying up to russia.I'd rather have russian made crap than chinese made crap
Unfortunately America’s bullying the world and constantly attacking other countries has driven China and Russia closer. Other nuclear nations such as India, Pakistan, Brazil, and the Third World will eventually join them to stand up to the unrelenting hegemony coming from the USA. America is making enemies at an accelerated pace. Most of the rest of the world will be forced to stand up against the bully, or they will eventually face destruction one at a time.
Dude you are an American hater. Russia and china has nothing in common. The Russians have not seen the power they thought they had since 89'. The Chinese cannot go to war with anyone because they need there 2.1 million man army to keep the people in check. You probably do not remember what happened when China and the US was about to go to war in the 90's but the people stopped the army. China is self checked as long as we do not touch them. Russia has 2 cities that are the heart of Russia st. pet and Moscow. We have 11 carriers for a reason. Have you ever bought made in China and said omfg. Wtff… Well imagine how their military equipment is. You know why you do not buy anything made in Russia ..because they do not make anything good to buy except Airplanes and rockets they are the best hands down.
So many of these posts completely miss the point of this article, or simply lack the economic knowledge to make sense of it.
The World Bank is simply giving general economic advice. Currently China's biggest companies are backed and partially controlled by the state, and as a result starve private enterprise of capital by forcing banks to give cheap loans to state firms while at the same time giving those state firms special legal protection that protect them from foreign and domestic competition. What happens? The state firms succeed with very little effort, supported by public funds, and innovative and efficient people with good ideas but no political connections are frozen out of the market. This has little to do with "Wall Street," it's sound, basic economics.
When the government is closely wedded to private enterprise, the market, and by extension consumers, usually suffer for it. This is a problem we have in America too, for those of you complaining about Wall Street bankers getting bailed out by the government and oil companies getting big tax breaks. Whether in a democracy or an authoritarian state, it's bad for business, and bad for consumers.
In fact, I'd rather like to see the World Bank sit down with our own leaders here in America and give them the same pitch; we may not have explicitly state-backed firms (although it's hard to figure out how much different Freddie Mac and Fannie May are), but our government could certainly use a reminder of what "free-market capitalism" is really about.
On that note, people who complain about their dominance in manufacturing or general trade might as well get used to it; barring a catastrophic international incident, international trade isn't going away, so you'd best buck up and look for a good school if you happen to be an unskilled factory worker. That's just reality, and neither Obama nor any of his prospective rivals are able to save us from it.
Anybody who's followed the economic history of China can see that China has prospered DESPITE its state controls and patronage, not because of it. They used to have regular famines and crippling poverty, but with every round of reforms and every new set of economic freedoms given to their people, their standard of living visibly rises and their economic indicators make another jump.
It's quite ironic, but in a way "Communist" China is one of the best examples of capitalist prosperity in modern times.
Robert @!$%#lick has ruined this country with the help of our politicians. Why shouldn't they go after the next big super power???
What's good for nations,is not always economical.That is something we don't seem to understand.Outsourcing jobs,is good for the profit of companies,doing the outsourcing. But bad for the nations population. Cheap illegal alien labor is good for the companies hiring them.But bad for the nations population. We've seen the collapse of much of our manufacturing base here in our country. In times of trouble that would be a disaster for our country. To retool and rebuild that lost industry could take years. Over the last ,at least thirty years,our economy has been run as a giant ponzi scheme. Service industries,and their like,are the growth concerns. But in reality what do they produce. If a depression or giant recession were to hit. And the likelihood with the Mid-East problems is strong. We would be in a world of hurt. A government should be concerned with the welfare of its citizens,not with a few fat cat companies. In our earlier years that was what make America strong,and a model for the world. Our economy used to resemble a giant circle. American companies made products,Americans bought them,and Americans were hired to make them. A circle,that made America the greatest nation in the world. Now days,we are turning in to a two class society,the rich and super-rich 1% and the rest of the population as the 99%. We all have read in history how that ends,with revolution and collapse. I never thought our country would make those kinds of mistakes. But when you allow unlimited campaign contributions to candidates,and begin to class companies as having the rights of a citizen,as to free speech.Could it end anyway else.
^
Ruin away....maybe we could send 40 or 50 ICBMs their way to finish the job...or how about a nasty strain of avian flu...
They are doing pretty well - of course the CFR and the global banking cartel is salivating at the prospect of pillaging their economy. It worked great for those @!$%#s in the US and Europe...
The Chinese have more freedom to tell the truth about the Wall Street scam artists than Americans do. The Chinese are not as stupid as the idiot goyim who looked the other way as Goldman-Sachs ran their derivatives Ponzi scheme and ripped off more money than any financial scam in all of history.
As Grandpa Warburg was quoted as saying, "I care not who rules or governs a country so long as I control the money I control the government". He is right. Smart guy.
Isn't China in fact 'the world bank'?
And if they actually do switch to a private enterprise centered market economy....we should all learn Chinese :)
Good. Stupid Commies need to get back to work making my iPhones.
I wake up every day and pray for the downfall to the Chinese economy . And for all those jobs to come back to the U.S. Actually i wish for all the jobs to go to any country versus them staying in Communist china . I strongly disagree with that Libtard Obama that China is good for the U.S. . Ever since Nafta our country has slowly fallen due to this deal our corporations and politicians have made . This was cursed since the beginning doing business with a country that stands for everything opposite that our constitution stands for . So i say down with China and the American companies that do business with them . A Screw our commi loving president if he loves them so much make his ass move their where his leftist communist ass belongs .