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(Bloomberg Opinion) -- China's Machine Makers Look for a Scapegoat: Anjani Trivedi That usually hits big-ticket items like factory automation and other machinery-related investments: Growth in China's robot demand, as measured by volume, has slowed to 30 percent to 40 percent in the first half of this year, from 70 percent last year. [Extracted from the article]

In tough economic times, politicians need someone to blame. And today the rich world's scapegoat is China. U.S. manufacturers and congressmen claim that, by keeping the yuan artificially low, China is stealing jobs from America and causing a record trade deficit. China-bashing is also popular in Japan. In the euro area too, politicians and businessmen are complaining that because China refuses to let the yuan rise against the dollar, the euro is bearing an unfair share of the burden of dollar depreciation. It is true that China is running a $120 billion trade surplus with America, but China's total surplus is small--it runs deficits with some other countries--and many economists forecast that it may turn into a deficit in 2004. Despite foreigners' complaints about the country's rampant export growth, imports have grown even faster. At a time when developed economies remain fragile, China's robust demand should be welcomed. China may not be guilty of all the charges: nor is it completely innocent. Even if critics exaggerate the extent to which China is to blame for job losses, the yuan is clearly undervalued.

In the currency market, the government has spent hundreds of billions of dollars to stabilize the yuan following a surprise devaluation on Aug. 11. As the plunge continued, the devaluation of the yuan shocked global investors, deepening a selloff in emerging-market currencies and erasing $7.7 trillion in global equity value. Even as China gave market forces a bigger say and welcomed global investors to its once-isolated markets, its policymakers have been caught unprepared in areas such as regulation, crisis management, and communication with the public. [Extracted from the article]