The United States and china built a strong trade partnership over the last few decades, but there are serious disagreements related to Taiwan and North Korea. Beijing states that Taiwan is a rebel province and believes that America has to soften its policy with North Korea. What would a cold war between both giants look like? China is able to grow more than the US, and it could exert a lot of pressure on the American economy. If the Chinese decided to spend as much money on their military as America does, the results could be catastrophic.
Population
According to the Census Bureau, the United States has less than a quarter of China's population. The difference is so big that if the Asian country stopped growing over the course of the next thirty years and the United States grew one percent annually, America would still be about three times less populated. The Chinese would have a larger workforce able to produce more consumer goods and weapons.
From factory of the world to brain of the world
According to a report by The Hill, China produces more than half of the steel on the planet, and steel exports alone surpass US steel production. The Asian giant manufactured more than 28 million vehicles in 2016, using primarily cheap labor.
When China increases its scientific and technological capacity, the country will be able to innovate and create more advanced products.
Productivity and military expenditures
If the average Chinese worker reaches just fifty percent of the productivity level of the American one, the Asian giant would more than double the US production because of its huge population.
According to a report by Bullion Vault, the US economy is $19 trillion. The US military budget will be the impressive amount of $700 billion this coming fiscal year according to Nasdaq, so, this means that the military budget is about 3.6 percent of the economy.
What will happen in the future?
If the Chinese economy becomes more than twice bigger than the American one, Beijing would need to spend just 1.5 percent of its Gross National Product to reach the military parity with the US.
If the Asian country decides to spend the same percentage that Washington assigns to the Pentagon, the Chinese military budget would be an unreachable amount of $1.5 trillion. There must be a careful policy when dealing with Beijing, a Cold War with the Chinese would be more expensive than with the former Soviet Union.
