The article offers an overview over the persistence of Chinas export-led growth and its problematic implications. It is argued that the integration of China into the global economy was caused by two factors: On the one hand, a voluntary act of the Communist Party, on the other hand a functional need of contemporary capitalism. The global overaccumulation crisis since the 1970s led to three escape routes from overproduction: neoliberal restructuring, financialization and globalization. Although all of them ended up in dead ends, China is playing a double-edged role in all three processes: While Chinas immense growth rates stimulate the global economy, the strong export orientation of China exacerbates the global overproduction crisis. It is argued that China is only able to dominate the world markets by exploiting its cheap labour and marginalizing the countryside. Instead of reinvesting profits domestically, the Chinese authorities decided to finance US assets to stabilize the foreign demand for Chinese products. Up to now, the interests of the export lobby in China prevent a real decoupling and transformation of the Chinese economy, which would require integrating the countryside, creating more domestic demand, and hence lower growth rates. Eventually, the strong export orientation of China, the US, and Europe in addition to (not with) possible import barriers may lead to global deflation, protectionism, and recession.
