Huiyao (Henry) Wang 王辉耀; born July 2, 1958 is the founder and president of Center for China and Globalization (CCG), a think tank in China. Wang plays multiple policy advisory roles in China, as a counselor for the State Council appointed by Premier Li Keqiang in 2015, and honorable vice chairman of China Association for International Economic Cooperation (CAIEC) under the Ministry of Commerce.
Globalization is not dead. Trade, investment and technological ties between countries are still thriving, but they are becoming more managed and less influenced by Hollywood and Washington.
Many have claimed that the financial crisis, Brexit, the trade war initiated by Donald Trump and continued by Biden, the recent Ukraine war, etc.. have killed globalization. The reality is that the world now is even more connected. In 2021, global trade hit a record $28.5 trillion, up 25 percent from 2020, and 13 percent higher than in 2019 prior to the pandemic. Despite all the talk of decoupling, U.S. – China trade grew by more than 20 percent last year to $687.2 billion. Even with the Ukraine war, global trade is expected to grow in 2022, however at a slower pace. Other indices, such as direct investment inflow to China and, global internet traffic are on the rise.
One of the core beliefs is what New York Times columnist David Brooks called “convergence globalization” – that as countries become more globalized and more developed, they will become “More like our western countries”. In fact, as scholars Heather Berry, Mauro F. Guillén and Arun Hendi report in a study cited by Brooks, ” In many ways, the nation-states of the global system have not become significantly closer (or more similar) over the past half-century.” Globalization did not lead to Americanization. Instead, globalization is becoming less and less like the United States and more and more globalized.
Similarly, the US dollar and US pop culture are losing influence on a global scale.
Read about Wang Huiyao’s Bloomberg Opinion Column here.