PRC Economy - New Reflections : Dec 15 2011

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 15 Aug 2013 15:20

Lies, damn lies, and China's economic statistics

neeraj · Post by **neeraj** » 15 Aug 2013 21:13

^^^^^^ Not the only lies

China 'dog-lion': Henan zoo mastiff poses as Africa cat

An animal described as an African lion at a Chinese zoo was exposed as a fraud - when the creature started barking in front of visitors.
...A Tibetan mastiff is a particularly hairy breed
According to a report in the Beijing Youth Daily, the fraud came to light when a mother visited the zoo, in a park in the city of Louhe, to show her son the sounds different animals made. But when they got to the cage marked "African lion" - which had a sign describing the range and characteristics of the animal - they were shocked to hear the creature bark.
...Other species were also apparently mislabeled; there was a white fox in a leopard's den and another dog being passed off as a wolf.

sanjaykumar · Post by **sanjaykumar** » 16 Aug 2013 02:20

Hope the Chinese economy isn't a dog being passed of as a lion.

sudarshan · Post by **sudarshan** » 16 Aug 2013 05:28

If they were really creative, they'd get humans up in costumes. The humans won't goof up by "barking" when they're supposed to be lions (hopefully). Would also provide some employment. But seriously, that furry dog is nowhere near the size of a lion....

Reminds me of the "Gena the Croc" Russian series of stories. Gena was a crocodile, whose day-job was working as a crocodile in a zoo. At least he wasn't pretending to be something he wasn't

.

Chinese economy - lizard passed off as dragon?

wong · Post by **wong** » 16 Aug 2013 15:30

Yuan Hits Record Against U.S. Dollar

SHANGHAI—The Chinese yuan hit a record high against the U.S. dollar on Friday, amid growing expectations that China's economy has stabilized.

The yuan reached 6.1090, a gain of 0.06%, in early trade due to strong demand from corporations and broad weakness in the dollar, which fell against major currencies on Thursday. At 0605 GMT, it was trading at 6.1114.

http://m.us.wsj.com/articles/a/SB100014 ... reno64-wsj

Christopher Sidor · Post by **Christopher Sidor** » 16 Aug 2013 15:38

How much can Renminbi appreciate before it starts to hurt the PRC's economy? i.e. Before it causes closure of PRC's export oriented factories or it makes PRC's goods uncompetitive in the world market?

wong · Post by **wong** » 16 Aug 2013 15:55

^^^^

LOL. You guys never get it. The Yuan can set a record against the dollar whenever it wants. China just wants to set record highs while others have record lows as a big FU (my theory at least).

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 16 Aug 2013 19:34

Christopher Sidor wrote:How much can Renminbi appreciate before it starts to hurt the PRC's economy? i.e. Before it causes closure of PRC's export oriented factories or it makes PRC's goods uncompetitive in the world market?

Not sure if there is a ball park answer to it probably even the Chinese Central Bank does not know about the figure , I think Renminbi will come to its natural level against USD/Euro once its gets fully convertible.

sudarshan · Post by **sudarshan** » 16 Aug 2013 20:36

It doesn't have to be due to Renminbi appreciation. Stalling growth could do it. Rising wages is already doing it. There could be synergistic effects from a Renminbi appreciation, though.

TSJones · Post by **TSJones** » 19 Aug 2013 22:49

JP Morgan bribery probe: Is the cost of doing business in China worth it?

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ti ... 01192.html

It is against the law in the US to pay bribes in foreign countries. It is called the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. JP Morgan is a huge bank, we'll have to wait and see if they have the clout in the US to avoid stiff fines and penalties for playing reindeer games (Santa Claus) in China.

ashi · Post by **ashi** » 20 Aug 2013 12:06

Vina used to love to say "when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked" to predict doom and gloom of China. Now the tides goes out, I do see who is butt naked. Certainly not China.

No hard landing
http://www.economist.com/blogs/analects ... -s-economy

saip · Post by **saip** » 20 Aug 2013 13:01

Considering that I could only access BR from within expat compound where do the Chinese drones access BR from? Do they get paid for posting?

vina · Post by **vina** » 20 Aug 2013 14:38

Vina used to love to say "when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked" to predict doom and gloom of China. Now the tides goes out, I do see who is butt naked. Certainly not China.

Vina aslo quoted Yogi Berra as saying, it aint over until the Fat Lady has finished singing. The Singing by the Fat Lady has just started for China. Expect growth rates there to plummet to 3% if you have to re balance the economy towards consumption.

Oh.. Did you read up the story about have close to 2/3rds of the shipyards in China are going to shut down, about massive scrapping of steel plants, power plants and stuff.

Just the losses on that would be crippling. And yeah, the shadow banking system has been broken with near term interest rates above 12% by PBOC, even today, I doubt the short term call money rates in India are that. The pain in China is real. I promised you when that massive spending binge happened in 2008 (you can check the BRF pages) , that it is going to be totally wasted and that the massive HSR buildout was a dud and a white elephant. I think I have been proven right. Also,the massive capital spending that happened, and the real estate that got built will surely go to seed. It will have to be paid back with interest sometime in the future.

China is now running on fumes. Exporting your way out of trouble is not going to work, now that the Japanese too have junked the plaza accord and are printing their currency away to nothing (ie, a massive devaluation), and there goes a lot of China , S.Korea, Taiwan's competitive advantage over Japan! Enjoy the ride down, it is going to be exhilarating. The "Sloika" H Bomb event of the 2008 collapse took out Europe as the secondary, and compressed all the material for a Mega Boom in China. That event is happening, whether it sizzles or fizzles is a matter of detail. You are going to have a Mega Boom, whether it is a Ultra Giga Mega Boom or a plain Mega Boom is immaterial.

wong · Post by **wong** » 20 Aug 2013 15:23

^^^^

Nice rant. Wishful thinking is NOT analysis. Gordon Chang called, he says to stop stealing his act that he's had since 1998.. Cherry picking bad news about China and then predicting collapse is Gordon's profession and the fool does it so much better anyone and for longer than anyone (LOL).

Ritz Carlton banks on China recovery
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23750214

The international hotel chain is expanding in China, the world's second-largest economy.

It plans to double its number of hotels in China over the next three years.

Herve Humler, the president of Ritz Carlton explained to the BBC's Sharanjit Leyl why he is optimistic that the recent slowdown in China will be temporary.

Christopher Sidor · Post by **Christopher Sidor** » 20 Aug 2013 16:24

We are not cherry picking the news. We are pointing out facts. The crux of the matter is India can go to 3% growth rate and still not have social upheavals. Can the same be said about PRC? And what happens in case of PRC, Soviet Union anybody or worse Yugoslavia?

Just to be clear I do not wish that fate on PRC, not out of love but because dear PRC has really worked hard to get where it is right now. It has wrecked its environment, poisoned its food supply and crushed people under the tanks but it has still managed to become the 2nd largest economy and if fate permits it will become the largest economy on the planet.

wong · Post by **wong** » 20 Aug 2013 16:32

^^^^

"We are pointing out facts. The crux of the matter is India can go to 3% growth rate and still not have social upheavals."

Are you sure??? Jim Rogers (who's right 90% of the time) has basically predicted India will have civil war in less than 25 years. Many Chinese think India looks more and more like Egypt every single day. Oh and you have an armed rebellion going on right now.

Actually, your own PM would disagree with your statement.

Sri · Post by **Sri** » 20 Aug 2013 16:47

It too wish the Chinese well. They are amongst the most hard working and sincere human beings I have ever met. Good on you guys the numbers are good and it seems the party is just starting for you.

As for India... lets avoid discussing and comparing them here on this thread now that Mods are very clear on this. We just have to wait till Elections in April 2014 when India actually decides the course it wants to take (of course Communist Party of India is also in the race... They will be campaigning on China growth model all over the country and I wish them well too).

Christopher Sidor · Post by **Christopher Sidor** » 20 Aug 2013 16:59

Well not exactly wong. When we were independent the Britishers said we would not be able to hold the country together. There is too much of internal division. They said that Pakistan would come on top due to its cohesion. Look at how it has turned out. And I will hold it to you. Shall we have two bets?
1) Does India have a civil war in less than 25 year? I say no. What do you say?
2) Can PRC and consequently CPC survive zero growth rate or negative falling rates without sending in the tanks or troops?

If you win I pay 100 Rupees to the charity of your choice. I will leave it upto you to decide what you will give in case I win.

We have gone through very low or negative growth rate, 1989-91. But guess what we did not have to crush people under tanks. So we have shown the ability to survive without the upheaval.

Our PM has said that we have an insurgency going on in vast parts of India's hinterland. Our biggest Internal threat. But inspite of so called internal threats we grew. About 5% with max growth in excess of 10% in 1980s. In 1990s with an average growth of 6-7% and in the first decade of 2000s with an average growth of 8-9%. In 1980s we had the Khalistan insurgency and yet that did not dent our growth. In 1990s we had the Islamic Insurgency again that did not dent our growth. In 2000s we had the maoist insurgency and even that did not stall our growth.

But this is not about India this is about PRC what are the chances of PRC and CPC surviving a 3% or zero growth rate ?

sudarshan · Post by **sudarshan** » 20 Aug 2013 17:49

Sidor sir, Wong is not interested in facts. His entire goal is to bring India into every discussion, so he can spew his racist rants. He's just back from a one-month ban, all eager to continue where he left off. Suggest you take this into consideration.

But this is not about India this is about PRC what are the chances of PRC and CPC surviving a 3% or zero growth rate ?

No, it is about India, as far as Wong is concerned.

wong · Post by **wong** » 21 Aug 2013 04:02

^^^^

I didn't bring India into the conversation. Another member did. Let me re-quote what another member said:

"We are pointing out facts. The crux of the matter is >>>India<<< can go to 3% growth rate and still not have social upheavals."

wong · Post by **wong** » 21 Aug 2013 04:04

Christopher Sidor wrote:Well not exactly wong. When we were independent the Britishers said we would not be able to hold the country together. There is too much of internal division. They said that Pakistan would come on top due to its cohesion. Look at how it has turned out. And I will hold it to you. Shall we have two bets?
1) Does India have a civil war in less than 25 year? I say no. What do you say?
2) Can PRC and consequently CPC survive zero growth rate or negative falling rates without sending in the tanks or troops?

If you win I pay 100 Rupees to the charity of your choice. I will leave it upto you to decide what you will give in case I win.

We have gone through very low or negative growth rate, 1989-91. But guess what we did not have to crush people under tanks. So we have shown the ability to survive without the upheaval.

Our PM has said that we have an insurgency going on in vast parts of India's hinterland. Our biggest Internal threat. But inspite of so called internal threats we grew. About 5% with max growth in excess of 10% in 1980s. In 1990s with an average growth of 6-7% and in the first decade of 2000s with an average growth of 8-9%. In 1980s we had the Khalistan insurgency and yet that did not dent our growth. In 1990s we had the Islamic Insurgency again that did not dent our growth. In 2000s we had the maoist insurgency and even that did not stall our growth.

But this is not about India this is about PRC what are the chances of PRC and CPC surviving a 3% or zero growth rate ?

Like Egypt, your country never had the restless unemployed youth population like you will have in the next 10 years. Good luck!! You're really going to need it while your economy tanks.

zlin · Post by **zlin** » 21 Aug 2013 06:51

Indians here are so scared of comparing the realities in China and India.

Sri · Post by **Sri** » 21 Aug 2013 09:51

^^^

Dear Zlin, There is a difference between Forum rules and censorship. This thread is for discussing Chinese economy only. You are free to start a thread for comparing the China and India , if you wish... but in accordance with forum rules.

Also in India people have right to say and believe anything they wish, so please do not get frustrated when Indian posters here do not look at things from your point of view. They honor your right to say and think anything you want .. don't they.. ?

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 21 Aug 2013 10:38

Huanqiu, China
http://watchingamerica.com/News/218222/ ... ar-theory/
There Is No Sino-US Cold War Theory

By Zhao Jin

China - Huanqiu - Original Article (Chinese)

Not long ago, German scholar Wolfgang Hirn wrote an article predicting the next Cold War to be between China and the West; with the growing strength and rise of China, Sino-U.S. relations could very soon become what Soviet-U.S. relations were during the Cold War. Ever since the end of the Cold War, there has been much focus on the direction China is heading, and strategists in Europe all have some kind of a threat theory about China that emphasizes China’s strength. Especially after the financial crisis in 2008, the European financial sector, which has had a weak economic recovery, is particularly pessimistic about the threat of China. That, coupled with the ideology behind human rights organizations trying to “tame” China, makes up a mentality very similar to the one that existed during the Cold War. Indeed, it seems that a Chinese Cold War is in the future.

The Cold War mentality is a Western kind of strategic thinking that is prevalent in an era of American hegemony. Through this view, people only see a “black and white” world and are reluctant to play any kind of a strategic game. The United States is especially trying to implement a strategy to rebalance Asia, and the U.S. has repeatedly tried to fight the growth trend of China.

In reality though, this Cold War between China and the United States depends solely on China. The U.S. is currently the world’s only hegemonic superpower, and neointerventionism is the norm in American foreign affairs, so the U.S. does not need to start a Cold War with China to win this hegemonic role. As long as China does not challenge the U.S. as the most dominant political and economic power, there is no need for a Cold War. Just looking at the influence of the U.S. dollar and other indicators of hegemony is enough to make China look bad in front of the U.S. Although China has grown considerably economically, China isn’t even close to challenging the dominance of the U.S. in the world. China has neither the leadership nor the ability to launch a comprehensive challenge. Objectively speaking, being able to solve China’s own problems, defend its national sovereignty and make sure that its security and developmental interests are not being violated are good enough for China.

In an increasingly integrated world, China needs to have more self-confidence. China is no longer considered a weak and poor country, and the more powerful China becomes, the more its security is guaranteed. Despite some countries trying to contain and contest China’s power, in the era of globalization, this feat is nearly impossible; China is too closely linked to the rest of the world. Even if a country is armed to the teeth, it has no chance of being able to contain China. Any transaction going on in the world today that does not somehow involve China’s participation is unthinkable. For a country to exaggerate the threat of China to form some kind of an alliance is really equivalent to shooting itself in the foot.
　　
There is no doubt that during China’s sprint to the top it will face opposition through pressure from other countries as well as American strategists clamoring to contain China. This short-term Cold War thinking is difficult to get rid of, and it no doubt affects the U.S. government’s strategic outlook. In dealing with the U.S., China should not be afraid of struggle and must insist on dialogue. Of course, China needs to think about the impact of its rising power and be careful to control its influence on international order. China’s internal development, harmony and justice will show China’s adherence to its principles. The so-called Sino-U.S. Cold War theory is an error of judgment, and the notion in itself shows flaws in the Cold War mentality.

saip · Post by **saip** » 21 Aug 2013 10:46

zlin wrote:Indians here are so scared of comparing the realities in China and India.

Realities are just perceptions. WHy is your Govt so sh1t scared to allow people to access a harmless forum like this BR? Considering that you are able to post to this forum shows you are no ordinary chinese but paid lackey of your Government. Why wont your government allow any information on Tianamen sq or for that matter Great Wall? What is there to hide?

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 21 Aug 2013 11:07

not just BR, why is a social media like facebook banned in china? CCP is scared of anything that can allow people to organize and form groups

wrdos · Post by **wrdos** » 21 Aug 2013 11:50

Only 1 year or 6 months ago, the main stream opinion on this forum is "China will collapse when its economy is below 8%".

Now it seems to become "3%". So you are becoming more and more optimistic on the Chinese governance?

wong · Post by **wong** » 21 Aug 2013 16:27

China 7.5% Target Seen in Reach as U.S. Demand Picks Up: Economy
By Bloomberg News - Aug 20, 2013 10:24 PM ET

China will achieve the government’s 7.5 percent growth target this year as the world’s second-biggest economy stabilizes after a two-quarter slowdown, a Bloomberg News survey of economists indicates.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-2 ... onomy.html

chola · Post by **chola** » 22 Aug 2013 05:11

We really should ban every one of the four or five chinamen who comes here. They give us nothing and worse still, their very presence detracts from any proper discussion since it leads our jingoes to go on the offensive. We cannot dissect or compare with any degree of objectivity for fear of losing points to some 50-centers. And we don't even get fresh 50-centers!

In the decade I've been here, it was always these same few guys. There was a chini colonel from the Canadian army years ago but he is long gone. These same handful give us the same thing over and over again. Wong, ZLin, Wrdos and maybe two others I can't even remember off the top of my head. It's not worth keeping them around for any "perspective."

Ban them and we can have a proper discussion among ourselves on what is a decidedly important subject.

chola · Post by **chola** » 22 Aug 2013 05:13

Just my modest proposal

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 22 Aug 2013 05:22

chola wrote:We really should ban every one of the four or five chinamen who comes here.

+1

ashi · Post by **ashi** » 22 Aug 2013 08:33

China factory data points to stabilizing economy

HSBC said Thursday that its "flash" index of manufacturing purchasing managers' sentiment rose to 50.1 in August, the highest level in four months.

The index had languished below 50 for months, and July's final reading was 47.7. Any number over 50 indicates an acceleration in manufacturing activity.

sudarshan · Post by **sudarshan** » 22 Aug 2013 22:15

It's been pointed out to these CPC drones multiple times, that there are other threads on this forum where posters do discuss all the negatives in India. From human trafficking to the tanking economy to the endemic corruption, and yes, the slums. The China threads are for discussions on China, not to drag in India all the time. But do they ever get it? No.

Barring one post every blue moon, you won't see any posts by these drones on any thread other than the China-related ones. Why do they post on the China threads? Just to make sure that nothing bad is ever said about China. They want all Indians to sit and sing bhajans praising China all the time. If that doesn't happen, they will drag India into the discussion, and then giggle like schoolgirls about how "Indians are scared to talk about the realities of India."

They don't bring any perspective, just the standard CPC line which we can get from any number of websites anyway. I don't see what value is obtained from these four standard trolls who have been assigned to BRF. And the CPC doesn't get any value from them either, other than stalling the discussions on BRF, which, in the grand scheme of things, means nothing to the CPC. Winning Indian hearts and minds? Nice try - they achieve just the opposite. The CPC should make a cost-benefit analysis of the utility of these trolls on BRF so far, and reassign the trolls to making periodic sailing expeditions past the Senkaku islands or something.

wong · Post by **wong** » 23 Aug 2013 17:03

China FDI inflows quicken in July despite slowing growth

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/ ... 4J20130823

BEIJING (Reuters) - Investment inflows into China quickened in July, the government said on Friday, suggesting foreign firms' confidence in the world's No.2 economy is holding up despite slowing growth.

China drew $71.4 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI)in the first seven months of 2013, up 7.1 percent from the same period of 2012, the Commerce Ministry said.

In July alone, China attracted $9.4 billion in FDI, up 24.1 percent from a year ago, quickening from the 20.1 percent pace in June -- the fastest in more than two years, although the amount was lower than June's $14.4 billion.

saip · Post by **saip** » 23 Aug 2013 17:58

Why do we even allow these drones to pollute this thread? I mean all they do is to tell that theirs is bigger than ours. There is no way they could post here without the Chinese Govt patronage. Least they could do is to tell us how much they are paid to post in BR and what their rank is in their government. While in China I could not access this site without using a work around.

wong · Post by **wong** » 23 Aug 2013 18:57

https://www.credit-suisse.com/ch/en/new ... ofits.html

"Can Airlines Beat High-Speed Rail?"

The turbocharged expansion of ultra-fast train networks has led some investors to question whether bullet trains could poach passengers and profits from airlines, Credit Suisse transportation analysts Davin Wu and Timothy Ross explained in a report called "Can Airlines Beat High-Speed Rail?" "The major concern of the market is that the airlines will cut airfare to protect their market shares, and that load factors (a measure of how full flights are) could be substantially lower than the levels before the launch of high-speed rail," they wrote. However, the analysts go on to say that such fears are probably unfounded. China's fast-growing middle class is more mobile than ever, and should do enough traveling in the future to keep both sectors healthy. In addition, the competition will be most heated on short routes, a realm in which airlines have already shown a willingness to cut their losses early and avoid costly price wars.

Lowest Rates in the World

For now, a major move to cut rail ticket prices doesn't seem likely, the analysts said. For one thing, though bullet trains are significantly more expensive than China's highly subsidized "slow trains," the rates are still relatively affordable – an average worker's monthly income buys 24 tickets on a fast train in China, higher than the 23-ticket global average. In fact, Chinese high-speed rail fares are the lowest in the world, with an average price that is 36 percent lower than the cost of an airline ticket. What's more, the Chinese government has no interest in allowing a hard-fought price war and officials will be able to keep a closer eye on price competition now that officials have dissolved the Ministry of Railways and merged railway regulation into the Ministry of Transportation, which also regulates airlines, shipping and road travel.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 23 Aug 2013 20:11

Zombie borrowers haunt China's shadow banks - Reuters

Call it the new China Syndrome: Although Asia's biggest economy is slowing down markedly, credit continues to surge. Dead-end projects and dying industries are sucking up an ever-larger portion of new credit, while more productive borrowers are starved for funds.

A Reuters examination of proprietary data shows that as little as half of trust loans issued in 2012 were used to finance current economic activity, such as a new investment project or increased production at an existing factory.

The other half may have been used for refinancing old debt that funded past projects but is no longer contributing to economic growth.

Many analysts have expressed concern that the so-called "credit intensity" of Chinese growth is increasing. Ever more borrowing is required to produce the same amount of economic output. But no one is sure why.

Rising credit intensity is exacerbating the huge buildup of debt in China's financial system since Beijing launched its credit-fueled 4 trillion yuan stimulus plan in 2008.

The 1979 movie "China Syndrome" was about a cataclysmic nuclear reactor meltdown. And some see excessive debt as a ticking time bomb that will eventually produce a wave of defaults and an economic meltdown. But the Reuters examination of the trust data points to a different, though equally worrying scenario: slow and debilitating atrophy.

The risk of pervasive debt rollovers is that China could follow the path of Japan in the "Lost Decades", creating a permanent class of "zombie borrowers" who have little hope of turning a profit but survive through continual injections of fresh credit.

Such perpetual refinancing avoids short-term economic pain by keeping factories humming and workers employed at infrastructure construction sites. But in the long run, zombies suck the lifeblood from the economy.

That is an especially big problem for China, where small- and medium-sized enterprises account for 60 percent of gross domestic product and around 75 percent of new jobs but have long struggled to get access to credit.

China's economic growth has slowed for 12 of the last 14 quarters, and 2013 is likely to be the slowest full-year growth since 1990, with the official 7.5 percent target seen ambitious and double-digit growth rates now considered firmly a thing of the past.

"(China's) economic growth since 2009 has been fueled disproportionately by a credit binge that left local governments and their state enterprises with a lot of debt they cannot repay," Arthur Kroeber, managing director of GK Dragonomics, a Beijing-based research firm, wrote in a recent research note. "The risk of Japan-style rot is substantial."

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 23 Aug 2013 20:37

It Looks Like 1998 Again in China - Bloomberg

I’m reminded of the experience not just because Zhu is back in the news with a new book of speeches, letters and commentaries. Or because Summers may soon be named Federal Reserve chairman, just as Zhu once ran China’s central bank. It comes to mind because the economic challenges China faced in 1998 are eerily similar to those it faces today.

Looking at the raft of China’s problems, one might imagine the 15 years separating Zhu’s inauguration as Chinese premier in March 1998 and Li Keqiang’s in March of this year had never happened. Now, as then, economists worry China’s economy might collapse, a mountain of nonperforming loans might go bad, state-owned enterprises are stifling innovation, and social unrest might overwhelm Beijing.

The world tends to obsess over the wrong metrics. Yes, China is now the globe’s second-biggest economy, has $3.5 trillion in currency reserves, boasts an aircraft carrier, and spreads its largess the world over to win energy contracts and friends. But over the last 10 years, China’s economy has regressed as the state companies Zhu tried to tame used cheap capital to expand their grip. They now impose a significant drag on growth.

So far, Li has displayed only one flash of Zhu-like bravado: a sudden clampdown on credit in June that drove the benchmark interest rate to a record 12.45 percent. The target was a shadow-banking sector that has seen phenomenal growth and escapes regulatory supervision. The sector has encouraged an explosion of debt among state companies and local governments, while a plethora of wealth-management products obscures the true level of liabilities.

Since then, Li has acted far more conservatively. Why? For one thing, vested interests have grown as rapidly as debt over the last 15 years. Things were plenty corrupt in Zhu’s day, but there were far fewer Communist Party millionaires and billionaires defending the status quo at all costs.

wong · Post by **wong** » 23 Aug 2013 21:08

NEW DELHI: Finnish telecom giant Nokia has told India's government that the country is now its "least favourable market" to operate in and it makes better sense to export its products from China, a report said Friday

http://m.timesofindia.com/tech/tech-new ... 001684.cms

wong · Post by **wong** » 23 Aug 2013 21:10

High-speed rail is at the foundation of China’s growth strategy

http://qz.com/116190/high-speed-rail-is ... -strategy/

Has China overinvested in high speed rail? Anecdotal stories of empty train stations (paywall) in far-off provinces have led some to conclude that high-speed rail is just another Chinese white elephant—an investment without a cause. But the recent experience with high-speed rail belies this narrative, and a closer look at the data reveals that high-speed rail has been, and is set to be, a vital part of China’s growth strategy.

Passenger rail has grown very quickly over the past decade. As seen above, from 2001 to 2011, national passenger turnover doubled. Yet this rise in demand has not been accompanied by a comparable increase in the length of railroad track. As a result, each kilometer of rail is now supporting more passengers. In other words, rail utilization has become more intense. In 2001, the average kilometer of rail supported 680 km (422 miles) of passenger travel. By 2011, this rose to 1,030 km, a 50% increase. This phenomenon has been going on across the country—particularly in the inland provinces. During the same time period, rail intensity in the frontier province of Qinhai increased by a factor of 2.5. In no other period of Chinese history has passenger rail demand been this strong.