27/04/2012
New York Tines: “When China suddenly began cutting back its purchases of oil from Iran in the last month, officials in the Obama administration were guardedly optimistic, seeing the move as the latest in a string of encouraging signs from Beijing on sensitive security issues like Syria and North Korea, as well as on politically fraught economic issues like China’s exchange rate.
As with so many signals from Beijing, though, its underlying motives for reducing its imports of Iranian oil remain a mystery: Are the Chinese embracing Western sanctions? Or, as some experts suspect, are they trying to extract a better price from one of their main suppliers of crude? The answer is probably a bit of both, according to senior administration officials who acknowledge that they do not know for certain. But for the White House, which has labored to build a more constructive relationship with China, Beijing’s motives may matter less than the general direction in which it appears to be moving.”
via U.S. Is Seeing Positive Signs From Chinese – NYTimes.com.
Posted in China alert, Diplomacy, GeoPolitics, Good news |
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26/04/2012
McKinsey Quarterly: “The world’s largest social-media market is vastly different from its counterpart in the West. Yet the ingredients of a winning strategy are familiar.
No Facebook. No Twitter. No YouTube. Listing the companies that don’t have access to China’s exploding social-media space underscores just how different it is from those of many Western markets. Understanding that space is vitally important for anyone trying to engage Chinese consumers: social media is a larger phenomenon in the world’s second-biggest economy than it is in other countries, including the United States. And it’s not indecipherable. Chinese consumers follow the same decision-making journey as their peers in other countries, and the basic rules for engaging with them effectively are reassuringly familiar.
In addition to having the world’s biggest Internet user base—513 million people, more than double the 245 million users in the United States. China also has the world’s most active environment for social media. More than 300 million people use it, from blogs to social-networking sites to microblogs and other online communities. That’s roughly equivalent to the combined population of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. In addition, China’s online users spend more than 40 percent of their time online on social media, a figure that continues to rise rapidly.
This appetite for all things social has spawned a dizzying array of companies, many with tools more advanced than those in the West: for example, Chinese users were able to embed multimedia content in social media more than 18 months before Twitter users could do so in the United States. Social media began in China in 1994 with online forums and communities and migrated to instant messaging in 1999. User review sites such as Dianping emerged around 2003. Blogging took off in 2004, followed a year later by social-networking sites with chatting capabilities such as Renren. Sina Weibo launched in 2009, offering microblogging with multimedia. Location-based player Jiepang appeared in 2010, offering services similar to foursquare’s. This explosive growth shows few signs of abating, a trend that’s at least partially attributable to the fact that it’s harder for the government to censor social media than other information channels. That’s one critical way the Chinese market is unique.
As you shape your own social-media strategy, it’s important to fully understand some other nuances of the country’s consumers, content, and platforms.”
via Understanding social media in China – McKinsey Quarterly – Marketing & Sales – Digital Marketing.
Posted in Affluence, China alert, Consumer, Digital communications, Social & cultural, social media, Technology |
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26/04/2012
CNN Money: “Chinese conglomerates, on a mission to expand their global footprint and avoid “anti-dumping” tariffs, are shifting more of their production to America.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In the United States, cash-strapped states desperate for revenue and jobs, are rolling out the welcome mat for foreign companies that can guarantee both. More Chinese manufacturers have been launching their own U.S. facilities in the last five years, said Thilo Hanemann, research director at Rhodium Group, a New York-based economic advisory group. The biggest investments are being made by Chinese firms with products that have been slapped with hefty anti-dumping tariffs, he said.”
via http://d2pnews.com/index.php/2012/04/24/chinese-manufacturers-offshore-to-the-u-s/.
Related post: https://chindia-alert.org/2012/02/13/reverse-outsourcing/
Posted in China alert, Economics, Good news, Investment in tangibles, Manufacturing |
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26/04/2012
Times of India: “Maoists on Thursday freed Laxmipur legislator Jhina Hikaka in Odishas Koraput district, over 500 km from the state capital, after holding him hostage for 33 days. This brought to an end the twin hostage crisis that had rocked the eastern state in March.
Map of India showing location of Orissa (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
At around 10: 30 am, Hikaka was received by wife Kaushalya along with Koraput-based lawyer Nihar Ranjan Patnaik besides hordes of media persons at Balipeta village in Narayanpatna block, which has a strong presence of Maoists and its frontal organization Chasi Muliya Adivaasi Sangh CMAS.
Earlier, Maoists had released Italian nationals Claudio Colangelo and Bosusco Paolo on March 25 and April 12 respectively after kidnapping them from the Kandhamal-Ganjam region on March 14. While the Sabyasachi Panda-led Odisha State Organising Committee had taken away the foreigners, the CPI Maoist Andhra-Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee AOBSZC had held the legislator captive.”
via Maoists treated me well, says freed Odisha MLA Jhina Hikaka – The Times of India.
Posted in Ethnic clash, Good news, India alert, Inequalities, Insurgency, unrest |
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26/04/2012
New York Times: “As Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China tours Europe this week, it is no accident that Germany occupies a special place on his itinerary. After all, Germany is the one European Union country that has a trade surplus with China. And it has also been a focus of Chinese investment in Europe — so much so that analysts say some Germans are growing wary as Chinese businesses have been snapping up German engineering companies.
Mr. Wen, making his sixth visit in eight years, and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, on Sunday opened the annual trade fair in Hanover, billed as the world’s leading showcase for industrial technology. They plan to witness the signing of an economic agreement at the Volkswagen headquarters, in Wolfsburg, on Monday. According to German media reports, the deal will include the opening of a new car plant in the far western Chinese region of Xinjiang.
Mr. Wen’s agenda, as with a follow-up trip planned by his likely successor, Vice Prime Minister Li Keqiang, seems aimed at presenting an aura of business as usual, even as trade tensions flare with the West and the Communist Party at home is embroiled in its biggest scandal in years, involving the deposed Politburo member Bo Xilai.”
via China Invests in Germany Amid Uncertainty – NYTimes.com.
Two birds with one stone: Collaboration with Germany & VW; and opening up a major auto plant in Xinjiang, one of the two provinces with significant unrest (the other, of course, is Tibet).
Posted in China alert, Diplomacy, Economics, Ethnic clash, GeoPolitics, Good news, Investment in tangibles, Manufacturing, unrest |
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26/04/2012
WSJ: “Not long ago, Asia Pacific was all but a footnote in the financial statements of technology juggernaut Apple Inc. But no more.
Apple’s sales in the fast-growing region, fueled largely by China, more than doubled and represented 26% of its $39.2 billion in sales for the first three months of the year. IPhone sales in mainland China increased fivefold from the year-ago period and more than doubled in Japan.
Asia Pacific came within striking distance of becoming Apple’s largest revenue source in the fiscal second quarter. The company took in $10.2 billion in sales for the region for the first three months of the year, compared with $13.2 billion for the Americas, long its biggest source of revenue. Apple breaks out Asia Pacific separately from Japan, where sales nearly doubled to $2.6 billion.
Its a dramatic transformation considering Apple didn’t include Asia Pacific in its geographic breakdown until it reported results for the three months ended December 2009. That’s the quarter when Apple released the iPhone in China, more than two years after the U.S. debut. Apple has also yet to ship its new iPad in mainland China, selling 11.8 million of the tablets globally in the latest quarter.”
via For Apple, China Is Middle Kingdom – WSJ.com.
So China is rapidly becoming not only the producer but also consumer of high-tech electronic consumer products!
Posted in Affluence, China alert, Consumer, Economics, Technology |
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25/04/2012
Snowy mountains Yunnan, China (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
China Daily: “For years the people of Zhongzhai village, Wenshan, Yunnan province, have been blocked from the outside world by a mountain. But after six years, four men have finally carved a five kilometer stretch out of the remote mountainous area.
The four families endured years of hardship, one man even partly losing the function of his hand, spending all their saving on clearing the hilly road and building an enormous debt of 80,000 yuan $11,895 despite each family only earning 500 yuan a year. But the group – who have been dubbed the “Modern Yu Gong” say it has all be worth it, “As long as our children get a way to go to school,” said one.
Yu Gong was an old man in Chinese fable who was determined to dig away two big mountains in front of his family home, which caused his family great inconvenience. His famous words read: “I will soon be dead, but I have children, and when my children are dead, there are still my grandchildren. My family will grow and grow and the mountain will get smaller and smaller. With such determination, surely it is possible to move the mountains!”
via Four men move a mountain for their offspring[1]|chinadaily.com.cn.
It so happens that Yu Gong Yi Shan – Foolish Old Man Moves Mountains was one of Chairman Mao’s favourite fables. Fortunately, his successor Deng Xiaoping and his successors followed through with this endeavour – http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1312185/plotsummary
Posted in China alert, Culture, Good news, Infrastructure |
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25/04/2012
A logo of the Standard & Poor’s AA- rating (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Times of India: “Ratings agency Standard & Poors on Wednesday cut India’s outlook to negative from stable, citing its large fiscal deficit and expectations of only modest progress on reforms given political constraints, battering stocks, bonds and the rupee.
The lowered outlook jeopardises India’s long-term rating of BBB-, which is the lowest investment grade rating. “The outlook revision reflects our view of at least a one-in-three likelihood of a downgrade if the external position continues to deteriorate, growth prospects diminish, or progress on fiscal reforms remains slow in a weakened political setting,” S&P credit analyst Takahira Ogawa said in a note.”
via S&P cuts Indias outlook from stable to negative; markets hit – The Times of India.
What would you expect, given recent decisions in India, such as that to retroactive review foreign takeovers or mergers and apply taxes or penalties retroactively is not helping in foreign investment. While China has been assiduously wooing everyone, see https://chindia-alert.org/2012/12/31/question-who-did-china-woo-in-2012/ – plus for April a senior Chinese minister/politician either visited or hosted the following: Caribbean, Kazakhstan, Britain, Cyprus, Brunei, Iceland, Sweden, Germany, Poland, Thailand, Japan, North Korea, Timor-Leste, Colombia, South Sudan; Indian ministers/politicians and ministers are firmly ensconced at home!
Posted in Economics, India alert |
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23/04/2012
WSJ: “General Motors Co. plans to add 600 dealerships in China this year, about a 20% increase, as the auto maker looks to bolster its presence here amid growing competition and an economic-growth slowdown.Chief Executive Dan Akerson on Monday outlined steps GM is taking to boost sales and market share in China, where it is the largest foreign auto maker.
The addition of 600 dealerships would bring the companys dealer network in China to 3,500 stores, up from 2,900 at the end of 2011. At that size, Chinas dealers would begin to rival the companys U.S. network of 4,400.
GM is adding new models and factory capacity and expanding a technology center near its China headquarters in Shanghai, which will soon be its second-largest global development center. The largest is in Warren, Mich., near its Detroit headquarters. Like GM, many of the worlds major auto makers are expanding in China, concentrating on a market expected to grow to more than 30 million vehicle sales by the end of the decade from 18.5 million last year.”
via GM to Add 600 China Dealerships – WSJ.com.
If you are looking for a business opportunity in China, go for a tyre franchise. The vast majority of Chinese cars have yet to have their first set of tyres replaced!
Posted in China alert, Consumer, Economics, Manufacturing, Retail, Transport |
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23/04/2012
New York Times: “The Supreme People’s Court on Friday overturned the death penalty against a 31-year-old woman who was convicted of financial fraud three years ago after becoming rich through a company that sold beauty products and other goods. The case of the woman, Wu Ying, ignited an enormous outcry in China, especially on the Internet, and strengthened public criticism of the death penalty.
Xinhua, the state news agency, reported that the supreme court, which agreed in February to review the case, refused to approve the death sentence imposed by a lower court and said that the sentence needed to be revised by the High People’s Court of Zhejiang, a coastal province that is home to Ms. Wu and many other entrepreneurs. Ms. Wu was sentenced to death in December 2009 by the Jinhua Intermediate People’s Court in Zhejiang for cheating investors out of $60.2 million. Ms. Wu, the founder of Bense Holding Group, raised $122 million from investors between 2005 and 2007, according to official reports.”
via China Court Overturns Death Penalty for Wu Ying in Fraud Case – NYTimes.com.
Posted in Good news, Justice, Law suit |
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CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 