Zhang Jun — China’s Pursuit of a New Economic Order

Economists are increasingly divided over China’s economic future. Optimists emphasize its capacity for learning and rapid accumulation of human capital. Pessimists focus on the rapid decline of its demographic dividend, its high debt-to-GDP ratio, the contraction of its export markets, and its industrial overcapacity. But both groups neglect a more fundamental determinant of China’s economic prospects: the world order.

The question is simple: Can China sustain rapid GDP growth within the confines of the current global order, including its trade rules, or must the current US-dominated order change drastically to accommodate China’s continued economic rise? The answer, however, remains unclear....

Bingo. 

Add to this that the US will do everything in it power to maintain US global hegemony, including economic, since economic power is the basis for military power.

"I think it's important to note that there are countries all over the world, China included, that would like to take away America's mantle of economic leadership." — President Obama

As long as America is writing the rules of  the world order, those rules will guarantee that the US remains on top and no challenger of US hegemony arises. This is an imperial fool's errand.

Project Syndicate
China’s Pursuit of a New Economic Order
Zhang Jun | Professor of Economics and Director of the China Center for Economic Studies at Fudan University, Shanghai