China’s emergence as a global power is likely to be the most consequential factor in twenty-first-century international politics. Yet the nature of Chinese power is poorly understood. Its capabilities remain uneven, which can lead to misrepresentations of China’s strengths and weaknesses. Through data visualization and written analysis, ChinaPower unpacks the complexity of China’s rise. These features from the last year examines five interrelated categories of Chinese power: military, economics, technology, social, and international image.
China’s accession to the World Trade Organization was heralded by the international community as a victory for free trade and economic liberalization. While China has been one of the organization’s most active members, Beijing has not instituted deep, systemic reforms and its compliance with WTO rulings has been mixed. Our visualization tracks all cases filed in the WTO’s dispute settlement system between 1995 and 2018.
The internet has fundamentally transformed China. Internet-based technologies help drive China’s ongoing development, but they have also been used to clamp down on political dissidence. Our interactive explores internet penetration across China by visualizing the number of broadband and mobile phone subscribers by region between 2011 and 2017.
China’s economic modernization has created ripe conditions for commercial aviation to blossom. The industry’s emergence has not only enabled individuals to travel and exchange ideas, but also connected businesses and economies. How China manages this growing industry may prove critical in Beijing’s push to upgrade the economy. Our visualization tracks passenger traffic in the world’s busiest airports from 2003 to 2017.
Rapid modernization has enabled China to provide its citizens with improved living standards and increased economic opportunities. Yet this process has yielded uneven gains between men and women. Addressing these inadequacies is essential for China as it continues its socio-economic development. Using the Gender Gap Index, we visualize gender parity across the globe between 2006 and 2018.
In recent years, China’s support for the UN has grown considerably. Beijing’s increasing financial and personnel contributions enable China to exert diplomatic and political influence while reassuring the international community of China’s commitment to global peace and stability. Our interactive tracks all resolutions adopted since 1946 and compares the voting patterns of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
Defense spending is one of the most direct ways of measuring a country’s potential military capability. Comparing defense spending between countries – whether nominally or as a percent of government expenditure – is a useful gauge of relative military strength. Spending patterns can also reveal key political events that have prompted shifts in spending. Our interactive compares China’s defense spending between 2000 to 2018 with other key countries using data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
The world economy is shaped not just by states, but also by an assortment of influential companies that act as critical elements of national economic power. In conjunction with China’s emergence as an economic superpower, Chinese companies have climbed the ranks and become key actors in the global marketplace. Using data from the Fortune Global 500 and Brand Finance’s Global 500, we visualize the rise of China’s top companies from 2007 to 2019.
