The expanding middle class of China: a game changer in the international system

Main Article Content

Juan Camilo Soto Marulanda

Keywords

Middle class, China, International System, Accumulation of Savings

Abstract

This research paper explores the economic implications of the expanding middle class in China for the international system. To achieve this, the study analyzes the three key arguments proposed by Chun et al (2017) that are linked to the middle class in literature: 1) There is the impact on entrepreneurial activity, 2) the accumulation of savings, 3) the expansion of the domestic market. Using secondary sources such as journals and statistics, the paper evaluates how these arguments are reflected in the Chinese middle class and what their effects are on the international system. Concluding that China's middle class possesses opportunities like extended trade and investment for the rest of the world. As well as threads, particularly, the lending capacity derived from the middle class gives China a strategic position that may cause economic imbalances in the international system and generate financial risk for other countries.  

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