Cultural differences

There is hardly another nation in the world which has changed its picture within the past two or three decades like the People's Republic of China. The former communist regime of Mao Zedong has opened itself to the world since the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976. This change is most apparent from the economic point of view and also from a social perspective. From 1976 on, foreign investors were allowed to enter the country to present their know-how as well as to bring in liquidity. As a consequence, there are constantly more goods manufactured in China for the global market. The progress of the economic trend clearly shows the increase of China's influence on the world market. In the year 2005, China achieved a gross domestic product of CYN 18,232 billion (about EUR 18,060 billion) with a population of almost 1.3 billion people. This is an income per capita of CYN 14,025 (about EUR 1,390). In the year 2000, the income per capita amount was only CYN 7,812 (about EUR 774). This shows an increase of approximately 55 per cent only within five years. The figure on next page shows the growth of China's GDP within the past 50 years. Today Germany has a population of about 82 million people. In the year 2005, Germany's GDP was located at around EUR 2,244 billion. These figures account a German's per capita income of about EUR 27,365. Clearly, the level of the German income per capita is in absolute much higher. But the increase of Germany's GDP compared to the year before only stands at 0.9 per cent. Previously, Germany's companies reacted to the fast growth in China. In the year 1972, Germany obtained goods at an amount of EUR 175 million. In the year 2004, the value reached EUR 40 billion, which is an increase of 227 times. Since the year 2002, China attained the position of the second leading non-European export partner for Germany.