Should the unemployed learn Mandarin Chinese?

There was an item on Newsnight last night spelling out in bald terms how the Western Economies are increasingly reliant on China to pull it out of the economic mire. Setting aside the irony that capitalist economies require a Communist state to save them, the documentary rather pointed to the growth of the state led enterprise and at the same time the eclipse of the Anglo-American free market model.

The figures for growth are the most startling with China racking up 10% growth rates compared with the minuscule rates experienced in the UK. In fact the People’s Republic that was responsible for over half the global growth rate last year.

China, helped by a huge fiscal stimulus from Beijing last year, is roaring ahead and helping to drag the rest of Asia and countries such as Germany, which exports a lot of machine tools to China, out of recession too. China is one of the key reasons the world did not experience an even worse 2009 than it actually did.

China is not alone; other Asian countries that are booming include Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan. But in terms of sheer size and importance, key emerging economies now include Brazil, India and Russia with China; these are known as the Brics to denote their growing economic importance.

The Newsnight item also reported on impressive growth rates for India at 8% also noting the strong relationships historical and cultural with the UK.

Their rising power stands in sharp contrast to struggling European economies such as Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain, known collectively, if unkindly, as the Pigs.

The Brics now account for 15% of the global economy, more than half of the size of the US. As Newsnight pointed out, China has overtaken Germany to become the world's third-largest economy and is likely to move into second place, ahead of Japan, over the next year or so.

By 2030 it is likely to have eclipsed the US as the world's top economy. Brazil will overtake France and Britain to become the world's fifth-largest economy by 2025 at the latest. Along with India and Russia, it has overtaken or is about to overtake Canada, a member of the G7 leading economies. No wonder the G20, which includes the Brics, has been recognised as the primary forum for global economic discussions.

All the Brics are set to grow lays to rest the myth that Americans are the world's "consumers of last resort", forecasting that the Brics, rather than simply being huge exporters, are likely to account for almost half of global consumption growth in 2010 and beyond.

One aspect of the increased desire for consumption and increased leisure time is the increase in strikes and industrial disputes in China where workers have learned the value of collectivist action. They are looking to raise living standards in a time of boom increasing union activity is a manifestation of that.

Where does this leave Stoke well the programme said that China was looking for investment opportunities in the west. Perhaps we should look at where local manufacture especially in niche and specialised areas could meet the increasing consumer demand?

Coals to Newcastle, Pots to China?