1. What is globalization
"Globalization" usually refers to "economic globalization", which is frequently used by news media and academic circles in recent years, and it is also one of the concepts with controversial definitions.
economic globalization is not a sudden event, it is a natural historical process of human social development, or an inevitable trend of capital expansion. Marx and Engels pointed out in the Manifesto of the Productive Party: "The need to continuously expand the sales of products drives the bourgeoisie to run around the world. It must be settled everywhere, developed everywhere, and connected everywhere. By opening up the world market, the bourgeoisie has made the production and consumption of all countries worldwide. ..... In the past, the self-sufficiency and closed-door state of the local and ethnic groups was replaced by the mutual exchanges and interdependence of all ethnic groups. "
today, although the process of globalization is far from complete, there are individuals and groups in the world who oppose it, but globalization has become a reality that no one can avoid and must face squarely. As the article "Internationalized Market and Globalized Economy" published in the Financial Times on January 8, 199 said: "The strategic shift that the bosses of big companies in the world are considering at present is globalization. In the 199 s, if we can't estimate the strong development trend of internationalization, we can't decide the prospect of industrial development. " Ruggiero, Director-General of the World Trade Organization, told business people: "Economic globalization is a high-speed train driven by the development of trade, and the rapidly developing technology is also the driving force. ..... People who think that globalization can be stopped must tell us how they are prepared to stop economic and technological development. To stop globalization means to stop the earth from rotating. " There are various indications that the world economy has reached a new turning point, and its movement direction is globalization, eventually forming a global unified market.
economic globalization is achieved through the mutual flow of various economic resources in the world market. Therefore, economic globalization mainly refers to the great circulation of goods, services, capital, technology, labor services and other economic factors on a global scale and across the international arena. With the expansion and deepening of circulation, the interdependence of national economies has gradually increased. Up to now, the content of economic globalization has been clearly manifested as a combination of a series of economic factors, namely, globalization of production, globalization of trade, globalization of finance, globalization of investment, globalization of human resources, globalization of consumption and so on.
The speed and scale of the globalization of economic factors can be said to have reached an unprecedented level. The emergence of multinational corporations has not only realized the globalization of production organizations, but also realized the globalization of organizational production. By the beginning of the 21st century, there were more than 6, transnational corporations, of which the largest 2 monopolized 1/4 of the world's economic activities, and their total production accounted for 1/3 of the world's total production, and their international trade, international investment and technology transfer expenses accounted for 2/3 of the world's total. It is no wonder that some people say that the 2th century is the century when multinational corporations operate in the nation-state, and the 21st century is the century when the nation-state survives in the network of multinational corporations. Therefore, it can be said that transnational corporations are the main driving force in the great turning point of the world economy; Undoubtedly, the great progress of science and technology, especially the rapid development of high technology, has also greatly accelerated the process of economic globalization. At the same time, with the internationalization of technology development and the formation of global technology market, the industrialization and globalization of technology development have also become a major trend.
2. What is internationalization and integration
When people talk about globalization, they often use similar words such as internationalization and integration. Moreover, scholars have different interpretations of these words, which is a common phenomenon in the development of many new fields.
"internationalization" and "globalization" are often used interchangeably on many occasions, even without distinction. If we must make a distinction, we can say that "internationalization" means the initial stage of the process of economic globalization, while "globalization" focuses on the goal, result or mature stage of the process. Since today's globalization can't be said to have reached a mature stage, it doesn't hinder much to express it by internationalization. The scientific definition of these two concepts needs the birth of global economics.
"integration" also has some similar concepts, such as "international economic integration" and "regional economic integration" and so on. Some foreign scholars call "international economic integration" also "regionalization" and define it as: "The independent national economies are combined into larger economic groups or * * * same bodies, such as the European economy." "Regional economic integration" means that geographically close countries adopt more open policies to each other, thus forming an integrated group (organization). In fact, these concepts all refer to the fact that since 198s, especially since the end of the Cold War, some countries have formed a kind of reciprocal national union in order to reduce trade barriers. Among them, apart from European economies, there are also North American Free Trade Area, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Central American Common Market, Gulf Cooperation Organization and Maghreb Union.
"integration" or "regional economic integration" is a natural development stage in the process of economic globalization. It is the inevitable result of increasingly frequent economic exchanges between neighboring countries. The original intention of establishing regional organizations may be different, but the development of regional economy will increase the anti-risk ability of regional economy, reduce the cost of commodity circulation within the region and accelerate the development of regional economy. If it can develop healthily, it may become a stable component of the global economy.
Second, the characteristics and manifestations of globalization
Driven by the tide of economic globalization, the previous economic models and economic phenomena are changing rapidly, and its characteristics are multi-angle. Here are only a few aspects closely related to this topic:
1. Transnational operation of enterprises and transnational production of commodities
In the past years, a specific product was exclusively manufactured by a specific enterprise, which For example, Wang Mazi's knife scissors are definitely made by Wang Mazi's knife scissors shop craftsman, and Honda engine is produced by Honda Company of Japan, etc., that is to say, the products are exclusively owned by an enterprise in a certain country. The development of economic globalization makes this concept more and more unclear. Today's commodities circulating in the international market are actually not exclusively produced, or even products made in a certain country, although they are also branded as produced (manufactured) by a certain factory, a certain place or a certain country for management needs. The well-known Boeing jetliner is nominally made by Boeing Company of the United States. In fact, the enterprises involved in production include l5 large enterprises and 15 small enterprises in six countries. Another example is the Airbus aircraft in Europe. The companies involved in the development and production are divided into foreign countries, as well as airlines from Germany, Britain, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and other countries. It is only in Toulouse, France that the final assembly is made, and the parts made in France are less than 4%. Not only this kind of large equipment with complex structure, but also many small products are produced in this way. The concept of the country of origin or the country of production of such products is no longer of great significance. It can be said that this is a de facto "global product"-a masterpiece of economic globalization.
"global product" is the result of transnational production of commodities. The rapid and successful development of transnational production of commodities is mainly due to the transnational operation of enterprises and the development of multinational companies. The global expansion of capital is the driving force for the transnational operation of enterprises and the development of multinational companies. In the whole process of production, the optimal allocation of production factors in the global scope is realized, and products with global competitiveness are produced, which is an important reason why the transnational operation of enterprises and transnational corporations have strong competitiveness and vitality. The whole production process of products is divided into several stages or links. According to the previous production mode, these stages or links are the division of production within the enterprise, but in multinational enterprises, they have become the international division of labor on a global scale. Some links (such as parts processing) are carried out in countries with low labor, some links (such as development and design) are carried out in places with high-quality experts, and some links (such as general assembly) are carried out near major sales markets. Therefore, it can be said that "global products" are the result of the best integration of global resources.
2. The transnational large flow of goods and resources
The socialized production of modern industry based on division of labor and cooperation has promoted the internationalization of production and exchange, and created an international market all over the world. From GATF to' WTO, it is necessary to make this market bigger, more resistant and more free, so as to make international trade more convenient, commodity circulation faster and transaction costs lower, so that consumers can benefit from it. It provides a vast space for enterprises all over the world to display their talents, which will further stimulate the flow of goods, funds and people on a larger scale and make the economy there vibrant. This is the great role of the invisible hand of the market economy.
Today, the circulation scale of goods and resources in the international market has reached an unimaginable level. In 1995 alone, the world merchandise trade volume reached 5 trillion US dollars, equivalent to an average of l US dollars of imported goods purchased by each person. The annual growth of world trade is generally in double digits, and it continuously exceeds the growth rate of output. That is to say, an increasing part of the world's products have participated in international trade, and many countries have significantly increased their dependence on foreign trade and consciously or unconsciously joined the embrace of the global economy.
Today, the worldwide population movement is going on all the time, and its scale is larger than any great national migration, both in China and abroad. Since the 197s, the industrialized countries have been absorbing more and more foreign workers, with the United States and Canada bearing the brunt. By the 198s, Western Europe also began to recruit a large number of foreign workers, including 3 million in Britain and 3 million in France, and the number of workers in the Middle East oil exporting countries increased tenfold in 1 years. The tide of migrant workers in the eastern coastal cities of China is calculated in billions.
Today, the worldwide capital flow (international investment) is almost astronomical. In 1995 alone, the total amount of foreign exchange transactions in the world reached 5 trillion US dollars, equivalent to 1 times the trade volume of commodities in that year.
3. worldwide technology exchange
today's world has got rid of the past tradition of strictly controlling technology outflow, and technology has also entered the market in the form of commodities. In the world technology market, technical exchanges are very active by selling and buying technology patents, technology franchises, providing paid technical services, copyright transactions, purchasing complete sets of equipment and production lines, etc. The widespread flow of this technology has significantly shortened the popularization and application cycle of technological achievements, and technological innovation and technology transfer have created greater benefits. Take Japan as an example. From 195 to 197, Japan spent only $6 billion and introduced 2,6 technologies, creating a miracle of being the second largest economic power in the world. According to experts' analysis, if it is developed by itself without introducing foreign technology, it will take about 3 times of investment and more than 1 times of time.
The rapid and massive flow of information around the world is almost not limited by geography, and the world has indeed become a global village. The role of information in economic, technological and even social development is more important than any time. The development speed of information network and information technology exceeds that of any industry today. It is predicted that by 212, the annual sales of integrated circuit industry alone will reach US$ 1 trillion, equivalent to China's GDP in 2, and 6% of the GDP growth in developed countries is related to integrated circuits.
The above three aspects only describe the main features of economic globalization, from which we can find the superiority of this economic model in promoting the rational allocation of resources, its majestic momentum and moving prospects. At the same time, it is indeed a big problem for the Electricity Council to find the high-speed and safe operation of this world-scale economic train. If there are no unified rules to abide by in this international market, the goods and resources in circulation have no reliable quality and high trust, the consequences will be unimaginable.