William Jefferies

School of Oriental and Africa Studies (SOAS), University of London, London, UK

ABSTRACT

Leo Panitch and Sam Gindin’s article “The Integration of China into Global Capitalism” argues that China will follow the pattern of postwar Japan to become a supplemental, junior partner in supporting US hegemony. They claim that due to the close trade and financial ties between the United States and China, there is no question of China challenging America’s dominance of the global system (Panitch and Gindin 2013). This article will critically examine the premises of this claim, taking account of the postwar history of Japan; the measure of transition to market forms in China’s economy; the role of trade; China’s overall level of development; and the growth of the country’s domestic corporations. The article focuses particularly on the level of China’s domestic technology measured through Patents in Force (PiFs). It argues against Panitch and Gindin that China is poised to challenge Western dominance of the world economy.

KEYWORDS

Globalisation; transition; national income; China; imperialism

From: International Critical Thought 2017 7 (1)

Editor: Wang Yi