U.S. Aims for Shift in China Economy

[WriteDown]

Source: WSJ

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner heads to Beijing this weekend to urge Chinese leaders to fundamentally alter the export-oriented economy that has created years of trans-Pacific trade tensions.

In meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, Mr. Geithner is expected to reiterate U.S. support -- and gratitude -- for the giant stimulus package that China has implemented to combat the global recession.

But he is also planning to press Beijing to take drastic measures to turn China's economy into one that depends heavily on sales to domestic consumers and less on sales to the U.S. and other foreign markets, according to a senior Treasury Department official.

That means encouraging Beijing to offer more generous health-care, retirement, welfare, educational and other benefits in order to persuade the average Chinese citizen that spending now doesn't mean starving later...



Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124352913219063157.html#mod=whats_news_free?mod=igoogle_wsj_gadgv1

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Surely this is a joke. ???

[Joanne98]

1. Oh wonderful. If Geithner cares about the Chinese so much.

Why doesn't he just fucking stay there!

[ArcticFox]

2. Geithner is asking China to be more like Europe?

Generous health-care, retirement, welfare, education.

Europeans have state-run health care regardless whether they're working. My family's health care costs on the order of $10,000 a year.

My wife had free education through university in Slovakia, and I understand it's the same in most or all other European countries. I spent at least $30,000 going to a public university in Michigan.

I'm pretty sure welfare and retirement systems throughout Europe are vastly superior to ours as well.

Why can't Geithner propose such fair treatment for United States citizens?

WTF??