The
2008 Summer Olympics has transformed Beijing from being a low cost consumer and industrial production
center to an International Banking and Tourist destination.
According to ShiNa
Li, Adam Blake, and Chris Cooper, in China’s Economic Reform and
the Economic Impact of International Tourism during the Beijing
Olympics, “China’s high economic growth, which in the past five years
has averaged more than 10%, has been widely attributed to an extensive
and ongoing period of economic reform.”
China has a planned economy through five year plans, based
on the Soviet Stalin era planned economy model. If the economy is viewed
in terms of primary and secondary revenue models, China has
evolved from an extensive secondary production to a more intensive model
in the last ten years. Li, Blake, and Cooper document that “extensive
growth depends of exploiting raw materials and natural resources, which
will eventually cause a shortage in resources, environmental pollution
and lack of competitive capability.” (Page 1).
The article continues with “The transformation from extensive to intensive
economic growth patterns can be represented by an increase in Total
Factor Productivity (TFP) through technology growth and efficiency.”
(Page 1)
It is estimated
by the authors that contributions by the Beijing Olympics will be nearly
$900 million dollars to the Chinese economy in tourism receipts. Hosting
the Beijing Olympics has been a catalyst in changing the Chinese economy
from an extensive to intensive economic growth model.
The Beijing Olympics
is the marketing event of 2008 in that more travelers are making Bejing
the travel destination of the year, and non-Olympic travel events will
benefit from the economic stimulus. Chinese steam rail travel is
sold out for the Summer of 2008. Firms may
reconsider importing Chinese manufactured products due to the positive
publicity surrounding the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.
The Beijing economy maybe
controlled and subsidized by the Chinese government, but the price controlled
petrol is being reevaluated. The Chinese government will not be able
to subsidize the price of petroleum products and revert to more of a
market economy.
This summer the Beijing Olympics has jump started
the Beijing
economy and transformed the province from a low cost consumer products
manufacturing center to a high powered investment and destination tourist
center. The economic model has evolved from electronics and production
goods manufacturing to media and finance.
The Summer Beijing Olympics with all the cost overruns
and environmental consequences has propelled Beijing to an economic super power for next two decades.
Bibliography
The Economist (Print
Edition), (2007, April 7), Beijing’s Olympic-Building Boom, Retrieved
July 10, 2008, from http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8776275
Ramon, J. D. (2007,
April 13). China 2008 - The Beijing Olympic Games. Retrieved July
14, 2008,
from http://ezinearticles.com/?China-2008---The-Beijing-Olympic-Games&id=526167
Liang Jing;
translated by Daivd Kelly, (2008, May 5), The Economic Cost of the Beijing
Olympics, July 10, 2008, from http://en.chinaelections.org/newsinfo.asp?newsid=17313 ShiNa Li, Adam Blake & Chris Cooper, (2008, April 1), China’s Economic Reform and the Economic
Impact of International Tourism during the Beijing Olympics: A Computable
General Equilibrium Modelling Analysis, Retrieved
July 10, 2008, from
http://www.ceauk.org.uk/2008-conference-papers/ShiNaLi.doc