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On Thursday, August 18, at 1:00pm ET, the USGS National Minerals Information Center will host a seminar on China’s economy and its implications for the global economy. Entitled “China's Economic Rebalancing Act - Implications for the World Economy,” the seminar will be given by the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Scott Kennedy.

Kennedy is the deputy director of the Freeman Chair in China Studies and director of the Project on Chinese Business and Political Economy for the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is a leading authority on China’s economic policy and its global economic relations, specific areas of focus include industrial policy, business lobbying, multinational business challenges in China, Chinese participation in global economic regimes, and philanthropy.

China’s economy is one of the largest in the world, and its appetite for mineral consumption is well-known. It’s one of the few countries whose domestic supply or and demand for a variety of mineral commodities affects the world market.

Thus, economic decisions made by China, particularly in regard to production and industry, have the potential to significantly impact the global minerals markets. For instance, in 2013, the most recent year USGS has records for, China was the number one producer of 21 minerals and the number one exporter of seven. Once its imports are added in, minerals accounted for 25 percent of its total trade.

However, according to Kennedy, China’s leadership has made rebalancing the economy away from investment and industry and toward consumption and services, respectively, a top priority. That shift will have significant implications for the mineral industry, which Kennedy will discuss in his seminar.

The seminar is at 1:00pm ET in the USGS Dallas Peck Auditorium, which can be accessed from the Visitors Entrance at the USGS National Center at 12201 Sunrise Valley Dr, Reston, VA 20192. If you are coming in person, please give a few minutes to get through security. In addition, an ID will be required.

For questions, please contact the National Minerals Information Center's NMIC Seminars team, at NMIC@usgs.gov. To receive email notifications about NMIC Seminars, subscribe on our new website, USGS.gov/NMICSeminars or by sending a plain text email to listproc@listserver.usgs.gov with only the following in message: subscribe NMIC-Seminars Series Subscriber. Your privacy is important to us - your email address is not shared with anyone and is used only for official communications regarding the NMIC Seminars.