China
In 1950, trade between the U.S. and China was roughly $200 million annually when China became subject to an embargo that lasted 21 years, ending in 1971. Today, trade between the two adds up to more than $500 billion, making China the United States’ second-largest trading partner.
China has undergone a huge growth spurt over the past three decades and has transformed its economy. For emerging markets investors, China is a destination that certainly can’t be ignored and remains an engine of growth for the world. Even if market watchers have to get used to a “new normal” of slightly slower gross domestic product (GDP) growth than in past years, we think the 7.4% growth rate China reported in 2014, and the target of around 7% in 2015 Chinese premier Li Keqiang gave at the National People’s Congress in early March still looks impressive, given the size of China’s economy, and is not something that concerns us.
