James Kynge's Thesis: "China Continental"; John Authers's Follow Up

James Kynge laid out his thesis for China's continuing growth in the wake of declining exports in a recent Financial Times column, "China Continental". Excerpt:

China is going continental. Just as the US during the 19th century underwent a transition from export-oriented growth to a greater reliance on inner dynamism, so China is looking inwards for the engine to drive its economy.

In China’s case it is still early days, but evidence suggests the conventional view of an export-dependent, river delta-driven economy no longer matches the reality. The argument here is not that trade has somehow become unimportant to China, but rather that the energy generating the world’s fastest economic growth rate this year is increasingly coming from within.

A series of indicators reveals the shift to “China Continental” – the transition of the world’s most populous country into an increasingly self-propelling economic force.

Kynge lists a few different specific metrics to back up his case, including increases in China's retail sales and domestic cargo traffic, and survey results on consumer spending intentions, before addressing China skeptics in his conclusion:

Sceptics argue that China’s performance this year has come through huge but ultimately unsustainable government intervention. Such spending, they say, will boost growth for a time but achieve little but industrial overcapacity in the longer run. These arguments are not without merit, but they miss a newer, more interesting prospect; that Chinese growth is increasingly self-generating and continentally driven.

Recent moves in the commodity markets support Kynge's thesis, as John Authers noted in his Financial Times column today ("China's health gives rise to fresh growth theory"):

Industrial commodities, that benefit most from economic growth, have surged, with lead and copper up more than 50 per cent in three months. Gold, an inflation hedge, has barely gained.

Authers went on to summarize the debate about China's economy (both sides of which have been fleshed out by Kynge and Zeihan, respectively):

As a whole, even before yesterday's strong headline to the US jobless report, world markets were plainly working on the assumption that China has saved the world from Depression. Is the market right to do so?

There are two camps. The optimistic side, laid out by James Kynge in the Financial Times last week, is "China Continental"; like the US in the late 19th century, China can turn itself into a great economic power, by building links to its interior and unleashing its buying power.

The pessimistic side suggests China has poured money into the public sector, and will merely form excess capacity. The huge demand for industrial metals may be artificial.

Electricity generation is down year-on-year. Supply managers surveys show new export orders are barely expanding. So maybe China is caricaturing the US in the 1930s, and paying some people to dig holes and others to fill them in.

If so, the gains could soon be in for another ugly recoupling. Either way, nothing just now is more important than the health of the Chinese economy.