Chinese Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai is your prototypical modern Chinese bureaucrat: well-educated, clean-cut, and inoffensive. You know, very much in the mold of Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao. You will rarely if ever hear them make controversial statements that attract undue attention to themselves. In his post, Bo Xilai has the thankless task of appeasing China's trade partners over the growing size of China's trade surplus. Reducing the surplus along with promoting equality, environmental concern, and domestic consumption have been stated policy goals ever since the eleventh five-year plan of the Communist Party in 2005. To much of the rest of the world's chagrin, however, China's exports keep chugging along at a rapid clip.Earlier in the day, Bo Xilai set up the joke by telling journalists that "In the past few years we have taken a series of trade measures that are aimed at boosting imports and slowing the growth in exports." A few moments later, China delivered the punch line by releasing statistics indicating that it recorded its second-largest monthly trade surplus in February of $23.8B. February is usually a slower month for exports. Annualized, China's trade surplus would alone come to $285B. Nevertheless, Bo Xilai managed to make some digs at the US for what they're worth:
"The surplus was not formed only because of trade issues; it has developed due to the industrial structure and the overall situation with the global economy." This is a restatement of the classic Chinese line on global imbalances. America has no one to blame but itself for buying too much and selling too little stuff internationally;
"So we should not expect to see the resolution of the trade surplus problem in the short term, or only because of some trade measures." Ditto; it's a structural problem wrought by America.
"China has a big trade surplus but the profits are being made by [these multinational] companies." Meaning, why are you complaining? China doesn't really benefit as much as American firms taking advantage of inexpensive Chinese labor.
From my point of view, there are two possibilities here. Either the Party is really having trouble redirecting the Chinese economy in a more sustainable path because of China's sheer vastness (remember those independent-minded local governments), or it is saying one thing while doing another by clinging on to a model of export-led growth. As I have noted, America might not be able to take Bo Xilai at his word for much longer if things do not change. Unless tangible changes soon occur, I will have to lump Bo Xilai's famous words with some others':
Rafael Palmiero - "I have never used steroids, period"
Bo Xilai - "We are working on slowing down exports" ;-)
