Source: Xinhua
What it’s about: In this article, Xinhua interviews a member of the Human Resources Committee from the Argentina-China Chamber of Commerce who comments on the effect that China’s responsible development programs and long-term strategic planning has had on the country’s economic output in recent years. Ms. Conconi ties China’s recent 6.7% GDP growth for the first half of 2018 with responsible management and China’s push to develop healthy relationships across Latin America and Africa. The article stresses China’s role as an alternative source of financing for countries like Argentina and comments on the China’s commitment to developing win-win relationships with trading partners.
What’s misleading about it: Xinhua‘s interview with Ms. Conconi, an anthropology researcher at the National San Martin University in Argentina, promotes China’s economic growth as responsibly driven and optimally structured to provide viable economic solutions to emerging economies from around the globe that, for one reason or another, have not been able to access financing from traditional Western institutions (the article makes no mention of Argentina’s recent $50 billion financing deal with the International Monetary Fund). Ms. Conconi cites “consumer demand in retail and virtual sectors as well as growth in demand for exports and a centralized system of government with long-term goals” as the main drivers behind China’s economic growth and leaves out other important features of Chinese growth, including massive state investment in infrastructure and heavy borrowing that have prompted numerous observers from around the world to highlight inconsistencies and weaknesses in the world’s second largest economy.