The number 8 is sacred in China; in fact, it is the number that all important things revolve around. We all know what happened on August 8th, 2008 at 8:08PM.
However, there’s another more important aspect of the number 8 in China today. The Chinese have a word for it: baoba. Baoba means “protect eight,” the 8% annual economic growth rate that officials believe is critical to ensuring social stability. So when the world is in an economic slump, most people thought 8% was unattainable.
But China has done it and it remains the world’s fastest-growing major economy.
8% has been protected and the credit goes to the millions of Chinese workers; that is why the Chinese workers were nominated as the Time’s Person of the Year 2009.
Millions of Chinese workers leave their families behind to head for coastal cities such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou to work in factories that supply the world most of its goods. In and near these factories, according to Time, are “the people who are leading the world to economic recovery: Chinese men and women, their struggles in the past, their thoughts on the present and their eyes on the future.”
Do you believe the Chinese workers should be Time’s Person of the Year? What sacrifices does China have to make to obtain 8% or above year after year.
2 years, 1 month ago
Really good point. 8 means a lot to Chinese people.