The countries of China and Japan share many similarities beyond their geographic proximity. Both have and have created rich cultures and a great sense of national unity that rival and surpass that of their Western counterparts. Both civilizations have intersected in different periods over the last thousand years, where the similarities between religious morality and ethics have strongly influenced each other. However, despite these similarities, over the last century these nations have adopted two extremely different points of view in creating a modernized state. What has created this divergence is the extreme differences in the education of each country's respective economic policies. Chinese civilization has truly stood the test of time, existing as early as 2200 BC. Before the 20th century, China was a world leader in the fine arts and sciences. Unfortunately, foreign occupation by the Japanese and famine crippled the nation for many years, giving way to the new ideologies of the West. Communism made its way into the heart of the Chinese political system, allowing China to become a sovereign nation, but at the expense of the people's freedom. After this era of dictatorship, modernization made its way to China in the 1970s. The country has exchanged its planned socialism for a more commercialized style of socialism that would help China emerge into the superpower it is today. By decentralizing some economic decisions, China has still managed to maintain political control. China's large population has allowed it to be a source of cheap labor, greatly increasing its GDP, which has ultimately placed it as the second largest economic power in our modern world today. Both Japan and China have proven themselves to be self-governing nations that have… halves of paper… such as semiconductors for automobiles and chemicals. Its imports amounted to $350 billion, including fuels, textiles and foodstuffs. Due to Japan's rocky terrain, agriculture accounts for 1% of its GDP. China recorded exports of $232 billion and imports of $197 billion. Exports include footwear, toys and sporting goods. Imports include machinery, iron and steel. Of course these exports and imports also show the difference in the levels of labor possessed by both nations. Only 26% of China's workforce works in the service sector, while Japan boasts 65%. This is most likely caused by China's planned socialism policies. The economic planning of both governments also seriously affects the living standards of each population. Thanks to Japanese free enterprise, consumers have more freedom to allocate their savings to enjoy less essential commercial products.