Asian Poll Compares International Competitiveness
in 2010
In a study of business executives in China, Japan and
South Korea, business executives gave their rankings of
which country would be the most internationally competitive
in 2010. The Chinese and South Korean executives rated
China the highest, while Japanese executives gave their
thumbs up to the US.
The poll was jointly conducted by three news organizations;
Nikkei,
parent of Japan's leading business newspaper Nihon Keizai
Shimbun, the Daily Economic News in South Korea and International
Business News, published by the Ministry of Commerce in
Beijing.
Of the Japanese respondents to the questionnaire, 50.9%
responded that they felt that the single economy which
would be most competitive in 2010 would be the US economy.
Following in second place was China (33%), and in third
place was Japan (9.4%).
Chinese respondents placed China in first place (44%),
followed by the US(20%). No one in China gave Japan a
ranking.
For South Korean executives, 54% placed China highest,
followed by the US with 28% and 4% for Japan. South Korean
respondents added that they felt that China, with its
large population and low costs would be able to rapidly
become highly productive.
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun added that Chinese, South Korean
and Japanese executives did not necessarily have the same
interpretation and understanding of "competitiveness".
For Chinese and South Korean executives, competitiveness
meant low manufacturing and production costs.
In a discussion titled "The Chinese Market in 10
Years", Japanese business executives in China said
that the Chinese consumer market in the greater Yangzi
region centered in Shanghai would become larger and have
more buying power, and that the Chinese consumer market
in 10 years time would be larger in size than the US consumer
market. Sixty percent of the South Korean executives expressed
the same opinion that the Chinese market would be equal
in size or larger than the US in 10 years' time.
In 2002, South Korean exports and investments in China
overtook exports and investments to the US for the first
time.
Asked as to what was the most important country to invest
in the next three years; the Japanese responded with China
(45.3%), the South Koreans placed China in highest place
at 50% and the Chinese responded with China at 37%.
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