China Sales Dog Blog

China economic and political update

Here's a good comprehensive video update by Li Daokui, director of the Center for China in the World Economy at Tsinghua University and former adviser to the People's Bank of China. Touches on the current state of the economy, China's monetary policy, the real estate market, the Bo Xi Lai scandal and continued reforms. Worth a look.

Chris

View Video on Washington Post.

China's Top 10 Business Stories In 2011 - Forbes

As the year comes to a close, and we look forward to 2012, I continue the tradition I started last year and offer a brief look at the top stories that shaped China’s business and economic climate in 2011:

via www.forbes.com

Good summary of what was important in China in 2011 and still is as we move into 2012.

Enjoy!

Is China somehow limited by its culture and design?

Explaining the many nuances of China to an uninformed friend is always difficult. There are so many angles on everything China that the "uninformed" cannot begin to comprehend the "expert's" divergent seemingly disconnected explanations. You know that old concept of yin-yang, the one represnting "dark-light", "good-evil", "hard-soft" and a whole slew of other opposing yet intertwined forces in the universe? Originating in China, there is no other place it describes better than China. Even today, China is pulled by many "contradictory" forces, the majority being internal.

 

Read the below referenced article

Time for China to pay the piper? Maybe ...

I've seen it coming for some time now. China's increasing PDC or "public display of confidence" that's been building for over ten years could come back to haunt it. According to China, China is always faster, smarter, "right-er" and better than the rest of the world. Problem is the rest of rest of the world has worked hard to develop and played to a certain set of rules for a long time now, rules that newcomer China seems intent on disrupting.

Chinese usually consider it "clever" (聪明 - tsong ming) to bypass the system to achieve ones ends. But as dumb as the rest of the world seems, the rest of the world may not be that dumb after all. What did George Bush say "fool me once ... uh, shame, shame on you. If you FOOL me you can't get fooled again ... !" Translating for our dear Mr. Bush, we can let infractions slide a few times but we do have our limits. Increasingly it seems it's China against the world, a world that when pushed can become a united and formidable opponent.

Read this WSJ article (link below) discussing an emerging reality for China, one sure to put limits on just how much it can continue, as Obama has been saying, gaming the system.

Live and learn,

Chris

China Might Have Over-Reached Itself

By IRWIN STELZER

Report: US-China trade negative impact on US labor market

Here is an informative article from the September 27 online edition of Wall Street Journal discussing the real impact on US manufacturing and jobs from years of increasing trade with China, or more accurately intensive buying from China-based manufacturers. The article "Tallying the Toll of U.S.-China Trade - Study Sees Americans Bearing High Economic Cost of Imports as Labor Market Struggles to Adapt" based on the research of three prominent economists does not challenge the traditional theory that increased trade is good for the economy. Rather, the research indicates the ramp up of China's exports has been too fast for the US economy to adapt. The result has been increasing unemployment.

The findings of the study (See study - Download ChinaMFGimpact) are consistent with my own perceptions of what's been happening in this US-China game. The conclusions of the report also support my earlier post arguing the US should maintain at least some level of manufacturing in as many sectors as possible, if not for strategic interests, then just for employment.

Have a good day!

Chris

Simple case for maintaining manufacturing capability in USA

I argue it behooves the US Government and US companies to maintain some level of manufacturing in in the USA in as many industries as possible ...

For the Government, it is about national security. Our highly complex national infrastructure and defense machine increasingly depend on materials and components from other countries, countries that are not always friendly. For just one example, think of the monopoly China has established around rare

"US exports hit record level in March 2011", or "Is China faltering"?

As a "China expert" its imperative that I keep up with China news to stay up with trends and all. A couple of days ago I came across this gem of an article highlighting that March 2011 was the US' single biggest month for exports ever, $173 billion, and US companies are returning home from China! Great for Americans, but why is it happening? It has to do with the changing economics associated with US companies manufacturing in places like China, or "mainly China", to serve the US market. Rising Chinese labor costs, the appreciating Chinese Yuan, major increases in US productivity (i.e. reduced labor component) and investment incentives in hungry US states are all contributors to this trend. It's a short, easy and fact-filled read.

See full article U.S. manufacturers are leaving China behind.

Enjoy!

Chris

 

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China keeps investing and building, and building ...

Recently I have begun to contemplate the massive funding China continues to allocate to building up its infrastructure. It's awe-inspiring and to some degree alarming ...

Key Points of Post:

• The Chinese government is using banked foreign reserves to install a modern infrastructure while stimulating its economy; The Chinese say 一石二鸟, or as we say in the west, "kill two birds with one stone"
• The US government continues to pile up debt upon existing debt to simply to stay afloat; there's really not much left to upgrade an aging infrastructure
• A dollar spent on infrastructure in China goes much farther than the same dollar spent in the US
• America really needs to get our house in oder to remain competitive long-term

It's Time to Start Selling in China

Aye! … it’s 5:30 a.m. here in China and I just woke up. I was planning to run this morning in preparation for the upcoming Shanghai International Marathon but it’s one of those days, I’m just too tired. Instead as I sit here half awake, I feel compelled to write something for the blog. Hmmm …..

For the past several months, we’ve been watching the global economic situation. Until recently, we hadn’t noticed any real signs of the global economic meltdown in China. Of course, it is hard to see the signs in a big city like Shanghai. I mean, we hear rumblings about factory closures and all, and there do seem to be a few less migrant workers around but things continue to bustle in large part, I suppose, due to the Chinese government’s multi-hundred-billion dollar