Sabancı University Book Club hosted an event featuring Martin Jacques, author of the international bestseller When China Rules the World: The End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order on China and its influence on the next century.
The event was held at the Sabancı University campus in Tuzla on Thursday, December 15. After opening speeches by Sabancı University President A. Nihat Berker, author Martin Jacques and Fatih Oktay of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, a panel discussion was held on the book, moderated by President A. Nihat Berker.
Discussing the historical, political and economic development of China, Martin Jacques argued that all civilizations have unique sets of values, and that Europe’s attempt to understand China with European values would be erroneous. Martin Jacques emphasized that as a civilization with a history of five millennia, China needs to be considered from the perspective of its own values, concepts, history and customs.
Martin Jacques said that the uncertainty about the future of the European Union damaged its economic strength, and that the financial crisis led to significant drops in the gross national products of the Western economies. Jacques noted that the gross national product of China reached 130 billion US dollars in 2010 in the meanwhile, and that the Chinese economy continued to grow consistently.
Jacques argued that the increase in the number of countries trading with China and the total trade volume for the last two decades was indicative of China’s influence on global trade. Jacques added that the Chinese Bank for Development extended a financial contribution of 110 billion dollars to Chinese companies in 2009-2010, and that the total trade volume of China in 2010 was 3.2 trillion dollars. Jacques also noted that China’s trade with Turkey accounted for 6.4% of the total trade in China.
Martin Jacques made predictions about China’s future place in the global economy, arguing that China would be the second largest economy after the United States by 2025, and the largest economy of the world, followed by the US, in 2050.
To watch the presentation click here.