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^^^ HK have quite high chinese export value for their size. Did they basically reconfigured their consumer economy to chinese products as they are less expensive?
 
^^^ HK have quite high chinese export value for their size. Did they basically reconfigured their consumer economy to chinese products as they are less expensive?

Hong Kong is a transshipment point. Most of the Chinese export goods are not consumed in Hong Kong. The Chinese exports are shipped to another destination.

Port Transhipment Cargo Statistics, 2004 to 2009 | Census and Statistics Department

"Aug 20, 2010 ... About 73.6% of Mainland-Hong Kong port transhipment cargo movements were ..."
 
1 Singapore

2 Shanghai (People's Republic of China)

3 Hong Kong (People's Republic of China)

4 Shenzhen (People's Republic of China)

- Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor[7] (United States of America)

5 Busan (South Korea)

6 Guangzhou (People's Republic of China)

7 Dubai (United Arab Emirates)

8 Ningbo (People's Republic of China)

9 Qingdao (People's Republic of China)

10 Rotterdam (Netherlands)

11 Tianjin (People's Republic of China)

12 Kaohsiung (Republic of China)

[Note: For 2010, Shanghai has surpassed Singapore as the world's busiest port.]

Container ship - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Click on the hotlink at: "Busiest Container Ports
For more details on this topic, see List of world's busiest container ports."

shanghaiport335191775k.jpg

Port of Shanghai is the world's busiest.

Shanghai port's container throughput ranks first in the world - People's Daily Online

"Shanghai port's container throughput ranks first in the world
13:25, September 21, 2010

"Due to the strong recovery of China's imports and exports, the Port of Shanghai's total container throughput in the first eight months of 2010 stood at more than 19 million standard containers; making it the largest container port in the world."

[Note: Thank you to "Brotherhood" for the post on Shanghai port as the world's busiest.]
 
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NYT

Their Moon Shot and Ours
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: September 25, 2010

China is doing moon shots. Yes, that’s plural. When I say “moon shots” I mean big, multibillion-dollar, 25-year-horizon, game-changing investments. China has at least four going now: one is building a network of ultramodern airports; another is building a web of high-speed trains connecting major cities; a third is in bioscience, where the Beijing Genomics Institute this year ordered 128 DNA sequencers — from America — giving China the largest number in the world in one institute to launch its own stem cell/genetic engineering industry; and, finally, Beijing just announced that it was providing $15 billion in seed money for the country’s leading auto and battery companies to create an electric car industry, starting in 20 pilot cities. In essence, China Inc. just named its dream team of 16-state-owned enterprises to move China off oil and into the next industrial growth engine: electric cars.

Not to worry. America today also has its own multibillion-dollar, 25-year-horizon, game-changing moon shot: fixing Afghanistan.

This contrast is not good. I was recently at a Washington Nationals baseball game. While waiting for a hot dog, I overheard the conversation behind me. A management consultant for a big national firm was telling his colleagues that his job was to “market products to the Department of Homeland Security.” I thought to myself: “Oh, my! Inventing studies about terrorist threats and selling them to the U.S. government, is that an industry now?”

We’re out of balance — the balance between security and prosperity. We need to be in a race with China, not just Al Qaeda. Let’s start with electric cars.

The electric car industry is pivotal for three reasons, argues Shai Agassi, the C.E.O. of Better Place, a global electric car company that next year will begin operating national electric car networks in Israel and Denmark. First, the auto industry was the foundation for America’s manufacturing middle class. Second, the country that replaces gasoline-powered vehicles with electric-powered vehicles — in an age of steadily rising oil prices and steadily falling battery prices — will have a huge cost advantage and independence from imported oil. Third, electric cars are full of power electronics and software. “Think of the applications industry that will be spun out from electric cars,” says Agassi. It will be the iPhone on steroids.

Europe is using $7-a-gallon gasoline to stimulate the market for electric cars; China is using $5-a-gallon and naming electric cars as one of the industrial pillars for its five-year growth plan. And America? President Obama has directed stimulus money at electric cars, but he is unwilling to do the one thing that would create the sustained consumer pull required to grow an electric car industry here: raise taxes on gasoline. Price matters. Sure, the Moore’s Law of electric cars — “the cost per mile of the electric car battery will be cut in half every 18 months” — will steadily drive the cost down, says Agassi, but only once we get scale production going. U.S. companies can do that on their own or in collaboration with Chinese ones. But God save us if we don’t do it at all.

Two weeks ago, I visited the Coda Automotive battery facility in Tianjin, China — a joint venture between U.S. innovators and investors, China’s Lishen battery company and China National Offshore Oil Company. Yes, China’s oil company is using profits to develop batteries.

Kevin Czinger, Coda’s C.E.O., who drove me around Manhattan in his company’s soon-to-be-in-production electric car last week, laid out what is going on. The backbone of the modern U.S. economy was locally made cars powered by locally produced oil. It started us on a huge growth spurt. In recent decades, though, that industry was supplanted by foreign-made cars run on foreign oil, so “now every time we buy a car we’re exporting $15,000 of capital, paying for it with borrowed money and running it on foreign energy sources,” says Czinger. “We’ve gone from autos being a middle-class-making-machine to a middle-class-destroying-machine.” A U.S. electric car/battery industry would reverse that.

The Coda, 14,000 of which will be on the road in California over the next year and can travel 100 miles on one overnight charge, is a combination of Chinese-made batteries and complex American-system electronics — all final-assembled in Oakland (price: $37,000). It is a win-win start-up for both countries.

If we both now create the market incentives for consumers to buy electric cars, and the plug-in infrastructure for people to drive them everywhere, it will be a win-win moon shot for both countries. The electric car industry will flourish in the U.S. and China, and together we’ll tackle the next challenge: using auto battery innovations to build big storage batteries for wind and solar. However, if only China puts the gasoline prices and infrastructure in place, the industry will gravitate there. It will be a moon shot for them, a hobby for us, and you’ll import your new electric car from China just like you’re now importing your oil from Saudi Arabia.
 
In 2007, the U.S. had a 13.9% share of China's trade. By 2008, the U.S. share had fallen to 12.9%. When I discover it, I expect the data for 2009 to follow the trend of a declining American share (and importance) in China's trade.

Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China

chinatoptentradepartner.jpg

China's top ten trade partners for Jan.-Oct. 2008

What is the impact from declining American share of China's trade?

It means that China has less at risk and she is more likely to engage in tit-for-tat economic retaliation against American protectionism.

US Tire Tariffs: Will China Retaliate? « naked capitalism

"US Tire Tariffs: Will China Retaliate?
Friday, September 11, 2009

The US tonight imposed steep tariffs on tires, a move directed against Chinese imports.
...
And it is hard to know what the Chinese will do. On the one hand, China is clearly wedded to mercantilist trade policies and it is hard to see them making serious changes when their economy is flagging. So they could see this as a frontal challenge at a time not of their choosing. The rhetoric from the Chinese, at least as reported in China Daily, says the Chinese regard this move as an affront, but the Chinese so frequently go into high dudgeon mode, it is hard to tell when they are merely posturing and when they are quite serious:

Experts have called the proposal “unreasonable and unfair” and said that Chinese tire manufactures “largely do not compete against their American counterparts in the US.

Chinese tires have been “targeting the budget and no-brand replacement tire market for US consumers with severe budget constraints,” a sector that the US tire makers gave up long ago and are unwilling to enter again, said China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals & Chemicals Importers & Exporters in a letter to President Obama….

But the Chinese government will not turn away from issues that will harm the interests of Chinese industries. Officials from the Bureau of Fair Trade for Imports & Exports with the Ministry of Commerce said China has prepared an assortment of plans for countering different possible results from the Obama administration.

“We will surely protect local tire manufacturers from being hurt when needed,” they said.

China will likely take retaliatory measures against the US industries. The Tire Industry Association has petitioned China to launch restrictive measures.

Moreover, experts suggested the Chinese government clamp down on US auto imports. During the first half, China imported more than $1 billion worth of automobiles from the US, up by 9.1 percent year-on-year.

“It’s unfair for Chinese laborers, after we made the American automakers happy, if the US launches sanctions against Chinese tire imports,” said He Weiwen, a council member of the China Society for American Economy Studies.

Stay tuned. This could get interesting in a bad way."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/27/business/global/27yuan.html

"China Imposes a Steep Tariff on U.S. Poultry
By KEITH BRADSHER
Published: September 26, 2010

HONG KONG — Days after it flexed its economic muscle in a diplomatic dispute with Japan, China continued to display a more assertive international economic policy on Sunday as it imposed steep tariffs on poultry imports from the United States.

China’s commerce ministry announced on its Web site that it would impose import tariffs on American poultry of up to 105.4 percent. It said the tariffs reflected the result of its own antidumping investigation, which looked at whether the United States was harming China’s poultry industry by exporting chicken parts for less than it cost to produce them.

The commerce ministry started the investigation less than two days after President Obama imposed steep tariffs on Chinese tires a year ago. Chinese officials have denied that the inquiry was in retaliation, but poultry is one of the few categories in which the United States runs a trade surplus with China, making it an ideal target for Chinese trade actions.

The tariffs are another example of China’s willingness to use its economic leverage when it feels it is being challenged. An official at one of Japan’s top traders in rare earth minerals said on Monday that there appeared to be no resumption in shipments to Japan, a result of a still-simmering dispute over Japan’s arrest of a Chinese fishing boat captain. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said traders were watching closely to see whether Chinese customs would start letting shipments through again. “China’s rising assertiveness on the international economic stage reflects its growing economic might and the self-confidence of its leadership, but is tempered by the realization that it faces many challenges in terms of its own development,” said Eswar S. Prasad, an economics professor at Cornell.

Carol J. Guthrie, a spokeswoman for the United States trade representative, said, “We are disappointed that duties are to be imposed and will be examining the determination for consistency with applicable rules.”

Quarrels over products as diverse as chickens and rare earth minerals might seem like minor spats. But they come against the backdrop of China’s vigorous defense of its currency policy, and its stepped-up activity in the World Trade Organization.

China broke the peg of its currency, the renminbi, to the dollar in June but has permitted it to appreciate less than 2 percent against the dollar since then. In recent weeks, Chinese state media have criticized the United States for pressuring China to reduce its intervention in currency markets and allow the renminbi to rise against the dollar.

China has also begun filing its own W.T.O. cases to challenge other countries’ policies in the last three years, which it did not do for nearly six years after it joined the multilateral group in 2001. These include the cases against the tire tariffs and European Union over antidumping measures against Chinese footwear. The W.T. O. has extensive rules on antidumping tariffs. China has used those rules to challenge other countries’ penalties.

Some experts on Chinese economic policy say Beijing is still committed to cooperative relations with trading partners.

“They don’t want to be perceived as the guy flexing his muscles, because they are so interdependent with the outside world, especially with Japan and the United States,” said Jiang Wenran, a specialist in Chinese natural resources policy and China-Japan relations at the University of Alberta in Canada.

But Beijing officials face intensifying internal pressure to stand up for China’s perceived national interests.

“China feels increasingly under siege as it becomes an international economic power, as others try to contain it,” Mr. Jiang said. “They don’t want to appear to be weak, because domestic pressure is mounting.”

China is an important market for American poultry, particularly for portions like chicken feet, which are a delicacy in China but barely marketable in the United States, said Gary Blumenthal, the chief executive of World Perspectives, an agriculture trade consulting firm in Washington.

American farmers and the Obama administration are likely to be particularly disappointed by the new poultry tariffs because China’s increasing affluence has resulted in a surging appetite for protein, one that American chicken farms hoped to satisfy. “China is viewed as a potentially hugely growing market for poultry,” Mr. Blumenthal said.

The United States exports about $4 billion a year of chicken products, of which $678.2 million went to China last year, according to Global Trade Information Services in Columbia, S.C.

China’s dispute with Japan over rare earth minerals continues to be murky, especially because the commerce agency has denied shipments were halted.

Chen Deming, China’s commerce minister, said in an interview with Chinese television on Sunday that the government had complied with World Trade Organization rules by not ordering a ban on rare earth exports. But he seemed to hint that a halt on exports might have occurred anyway when he said that, “I believe entrepreneurs, they will have their own feelings, and will do their own thing.”

There are 32 companies with rare earth export licenses in China, including 10 foreign firms. Mr. Chen was not asked why foreign companies would have felt a need to stop shipments.

Rare earths are important for automotive, electronics and clean energy industries. China mines 93 percent of the world’s tonnage of rare earths.

Hiroko Tabuchi contributed reporting from Tokyo."
 
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Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu delivers the address for the opening ceremony of 2010 China (Ningxia) International Investment and Trade Fair and the First China-Arab States Economic and Trade Forum in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, on Sept. 26, 2010. (Xinhua/Liu Quanlong)

chinachinesevicepremier.jpg

Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu (2nd R) attends the opening ceremony of 2010 China (Ningxia) International Investment and Trade Fair and the First China-Arab States Economic and Trade Forum in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, on Sept. 26, 2010. (Xinhua/Liu Quanlong)

firstchinaarabstateseco.jpg

Three participants walk at the opening ceremony of 2010 China (Ningxia) International Investment and Trade Fair and the First China-Arab States Economic and Trade Forum in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, on Sept. 26, 2010. Participants from over 60 countries, regions, and international organizations attended the forum that kicked off here on Sunday. (Xinhua/Liu Quanlong)

BERNAMA - China-Arab Bilateral Trade Hits US $51.9 Billion In First-half

"China-Arab Bilateral Trade Hits US $51.9 Billion In First-half
September 27, 2010 12:40 PM

YINCHUAN, Sept 27 (Bernama) -- Bilateral trade between China and the Arab States hit a historical high of US $51.9 billion in the first-half of the year, up 52 per cent over the same period last year, said Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu.

Two-way trade grew rapidly since both countries recovered from the global financial crisis in the second-half of last year and this helped bilateral trade reach US $107.4 billion in 2009, which was six folds better than 2000.

Hui said this in his address at the First China-Arab States Economic and Trade Forum which opened here yesterday.

More than 800 foreign guests, mainly senior government officials, diplomats from 66 countries and representatives from chambers of commerce attended the five-day forum jointly organised by the People's Government of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China Ministry of Commerce and China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

Ningxia, home to at least 10 per cent of China's 20 million Muslims, will host this forum annually to expand trade and economic cooperation with Arab States and other Muslim countries.

Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu said cooperation between China and the Arab states have great potential and a bright future.

He said, as of end-June, China's direct investment in Arab States reached US $3.78 billion and the field of investment had widened from resource exploring, food and textile to those including leather manufacturing, automobile assembly and petrochemicals.

In the same period, investment from the Arab states to China stood at US $2.15 billion, covering petrochemicals, food, real estate and light industries sectors.

He also said China's construction sectors had not only taken up more projects in Arab countries but also provided more interest-free and preferential loans to Arab countries for infrastructure construction.

In the second-quarter of this year, China offered US $116 million in interest-free and preferential loans to Arab countries.

Meanwhile, Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said China and Arab States should strengthen efforts to promote trade if both countries want bilateral trade to exceed US $200 billion in the next three to five years.

He said both sides should make efforts to strengthen two-way cooperation, encourage Chinese companies to invest and undertake more projects in Arab States and welcome Arab companies to invest in China."
 
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1) Technically, I think China did not pass Japan in nominal GDP last year because the standard practice is to use the average currency conversion rate for the year or 2009 (e.g. 6.83 Yuan to 1 U.S. dollar). See http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2010/07...l-number-three/

2) It will be interesting to see the new GDP projections for China by both the IMF and Goldman Sachs. The IMF-projected GDP for China is lacking by about $1/2 trillion dollars. The Goldman Sachs' projections are about $1 trillion dollars short for 2010 China. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_count...al%29_estimates

3) China will catch up faster to U.S. GDP than most people expected. China's economic growth rate is roughly 8 to 10% per year. In contrast, U.S. growth rate is approximately 2 to 3%. In addition, China's currency appreciation gives China's nominal GDP an additional boost. America had better keep an eye on the rear-view mirror. China is closing in fast.

-----

The IMF (i.e. International Monetary Fund) is like the weatherman. Short-term predictions are fairly accurate. However, predictions for the long-term tend to be unreliable.

Five years is a short time for economic forecasting. I've checked prior 5-year predictions by the IMF and they're usually fairly close to the actual GDP. The IMF GDP numbers for China are understated by 1/2 trillion U.S. dollars because China has revised her GDP numbers (e.g. see original post). The IMF predicts that China's GDP in 2015 is $9.44 trillion dollars. We add in an extra 1/2 trillion dollars from the revised statistics.

Some of you will do the math and say: $9.44 trillion + $0.5 trillion = $9.94 trillion; that's not quite $10 trillion dollars. Technically true, but you forgot the interest income from China's forex reserves and remittances from overseas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_count...al%29_estimates

China's GDP in 2015 will be $10 trillion dollars.

I guarantee it!
 
Paper-Thin Screens With a Twist - WSJ.com

"Paper-Thin Screens With a Twist
Gold Winner | Industrial Technology Research Institute
SEPTEMBER 26, 2010
By MICHAEL TOTTY

Lots of researchers have been trying to come up with a way to make flexible displays that work like computer screens but with a literal twist—they can be bent, rolled and folded like a sheet of paper.

The Taiwan-based Industrial Technology Research Institute, or ITRI, won the top prize in this year's Innovation Awards contest for a manufacturing technique that promises to clear the way for commercial development of high-quality displays on flexible materials.

Flexible displays are attractive for several reasons: They're lighter than glass displays, making it possible to build larger consumer devices, such as e-readers or tablet computers, that aren't too heavy. They can also be used in some novel applications, such as interactive newspapers that can be bent or rolled and be as portable as the paper-based versions.

"With a stable, viable and cost-effective flexible-display technology," says Barry H. Jaruzelski, an Innovation Awards judge and a partner at consulting firm Booz & Co., "the door is opened to a wide range of truly new applications in consumer electronics and device interfaces."

But producing flexible displays in commercial quantities has proved challenging. To understand why, and why ITRI's innovation has promise, requires a brief tutorial.

sindustrialtechnologyre.jpg

A flexible display from Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute

Making a flexible display as fully functional as the typical flat-panel computer screen requires layering thin-film transistors on a flexible substrate. Because the flexible material can curl or shift during this process, it's bonded temporarily to a rigid piece of glass. The completed flexible display then has to be detached from the glass without being damaged, which is difficult to do efficiently enough to make the displays on a commercial scale.

ITRI's solution—which it calls FlexUPD, for flexible universal panel for displays—is novel yet simple. It places a "debonding" layer of nonadhesive material between the flexible substrate and the glass. The substrate, which has an adhesive backing, is made slightly larger than the final flexible display and the debonding layer, so it stays steady on the glass. Once the transistors are layered on the substrate and enclosed, the display can be cut out from the excess substrate and easily lifted off the glass.

The idea for the debonding layer, says an ITRI spokeswoman, came from watching cooks prepare paper-thin Taiwanese pancakes, which can be easily peeled from a pan at high temperatures. Cheng-Chung Lee and Tzong-Ming Lee, ITRI division directors, are credited with the idea.

The technique, the institute says, can be used with a variety of displays, including current liquid-crystal-display, or LCD, screens and the next-generation displays made with organic light-emitting diodes, or OLEDs.

ITRI has demonstrated a prototype paper-thin display made with this process, and has licensed the technology to display maker AU Optronics Corp. of Taiwan. The first product using the technology, a flexible display for an e-reader, is planned for release by the end of the year, an ITRI spokeswoman says.

sindustrialtechnologyre.jpg

A flexible display from Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute

Other companies have demonstrated flexible-screen prototypes and plan to bring them to market using a different manufacturing technology. None, including ITRI's technology, have yet seen commercial success, but ITRI says its improvements make its entry more cost-effective than competing technologies. Also, it says, the technology is compatible with existing factories for fabricating displays, so it can be widely adopted by display makers.

Judges for the Innovation Awards, while noting that ITRI is still in the early stages of commercializing the technology, cited the possible benefits of flexible displays. "This looks like a simple and elegant solution to a manufacturing problem," says William Webb, director of technology resources for Ofcom in the U.K.

ITRI, a nonprofit organization, won an Innovation Award in 2009 for its FleXpeaker, a paper-thin loudspeaker system.

Mr. Totty is a news editor for The Journal Report in San Francisco. He can be reached at michael.totty@wsj.com."
 
Russia hails oil pipe as first step towards China
By Charles Clover in Moscow
Published: September 27 2010 20:23 | Last updated: September 27 2010 20:23
Russia and China opened a historic oil pipeline in a move hailed by their leaders as the first step towards diversifying Russia’s energy exports away from Europe and towards its eastern neighbour.

The commercial logic of greater energy links between one of the largest producers of energy and the world’s largest consumer has outweighed political distrust between the two nations, which fought a brief war in 1969 and only two years ago finalised border delimitation.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao marked the completion of the Chinese branch by simultaneously pressing a button to open the pipeline during a ceremony in Beijing on Monday.

“Our co-operation has already reached the level of strategic partnership,” said Mr Medvedev. Negotiations over the pipeline, which began 14 years ago, have tracked the warming relations between the two countries, which now conduct military exercises together.

The pipeline represents a strategic shift for Russia’s energy industry. Currently, its maze of oil and gas pipelines head westward, supplying Europe, and Russian leaders have long said they wanted to diversify exports.

Julia Nanay, of PFC Energy in Washington, said such moves had “become an important strategic priority for Russia”.

The new EPSO pipeline snakes through east Siberian steppes from the Russian town of Skvordino to Daqing, an oil hub in China.

It is expected to start pumping 300,000 barrels a day on January 1. State-controlled Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil concern, will sell the crude to China’s top energy group, PetroChina.

Oil exports are to be followed by gas exports, as China is eager to burn less coal and more environmentally friendly gas. In 2006 Russia agreed to build two gas pipelines to China, carrying 68bn cu m of gas per year, though failure to agree on a pricing formula have delayed the progress of the gas lines.

Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom said it had cemented terms for a supply deal to sell 30bn cu m to China National Petroleum Corp annually. The two countries have not managed to clinch a gas price deal, however.

“We expect commercial contracts by the middle of 2011,” Igor Sechin, Russia’s deputy prime minister, told reporters.

“Practically, there are no limits for the growth of gas consumption in China,” said Mr Sechin, who is chairman of Russian oil company Rosneft and oversees the country’s energy and metals industries. “Secondly, Russia has all the gas needed for China’s economic development.”
 
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Shopping district in Taipei, Taiwan

http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=119474&ctNode=445

"Taiwan's GDP growth to hit fastest pace in 21 years

Publication Date:09/27/2010
Source: Taiwan Today
By Audrey Wang

The Economist Intelligence Unit expects Taiwan’s gross domestic product to grow by 9.2 percent in 2010, the fastest rate in 21 years, according to the Council for Economic Planning and Development on Sept. 24th.

The EIU report noted that Taiwan’s economy grew by an average of 13.1 percent in the first two quarters of 2010. This stellar performance, the EIU said, “largely reflects the global economy’s return to health, which has translated into an upsurge in Taiwan’s exports and domestic demand.”

According to the EIU report, Taiwan should see a rapid recovery in fixed investment in the months to come, as local companies have expanded their operations in line with increases in domestic and external demand."

Taiwan`s Export Order Value Hits Record US$34.88B. in August | CENS.com - The Taiwan Economic News

"Taiwan`s Export Order Value Hits Record US $34.88 billion in August
2010/09/27

Taipei, Sept. 27, 2010 (CENS)--Thanks to the appreciation of the Japanese yen and hectic sales of iPad and iPhone, Taiwan’s export orders in August reached a record monthly high of US $34.88 billion, according to the statistics released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

The August export order value surged year-on-year by 23.3%, with the increase of US $2.23 billion in IT & telecom product exports being the biggest contributor to the rise.

In the same month, orders for electronic products totaled US $8.637 billion, the highest of its kind ever recorded; and those for IT & telecom items came to US $8.515 billion, the third highest of its kind. As for LCD panels, the corresponding value totaled US $3.344 billion, the second highest.

Huang Chi-shih, director of the Statistics Department of the MOEA, disclosed that in August the overseas orders received by domestic manufacturers accounted for 50.72% of that received by the IT & telecom industry, whose overseas orders totaled 84.32%, the highest among all export items.

Huang further indicated that the booming sales of Apple`s two popular items—iPad and iPhone—have also benefited Taiwan`s related industries as IT & telecom, electronics, machinery, auto vehicles & parts, LED, flat TV sets, etc.

Huang said that the orders in August from the United States, Europe, Japan and the ASEAN focused on IT & telecom products; while those from China on electronic items. During the month, the orders from China totaled US $9.3 billion, for a year-on-year growth of 8.84%, of which US $7.676 billion were for electronic products, the highest of its kind ever recorded.

With the economic recovery, Huang predicted, the order value for the full-year might reach US $400 billion, or up 24% from last year`s US $322.44 billion.

(by Judy Li)"
 
chinachanganfordautomob.jpg

"Chang'an Ford automobile factory manufactures Ford cars in Chongqing."

Ford to Build $500 Million Engine Plant in Chongqing - Bloomberg

"Ford to Build $500 Million Engine Plant in Chongqing
By Bloomberg News - Sep 25, 2010 4:54 AM ET

Ford Motor Co.’s China venture Changan Ford Mazda Automobile Co. signed an agreement with the Chongqing municipal government to spend $500 million to build an engine plant in the western Chinese city of Chongqing.

The planned plant will more than double Ford’s existing engine capacity in China
, according to an e-mailed statement from the company.

The engine factory will be Changan Ford Mazda Automobile’s second and will add capacity of 400,000 units, according to the statement. The plant will mainly supply the venture’s vehicle-assembly lines in Chongqing, it said.

Construction will begin next year and engine production will start in 2013, Ford said in the statement.

Changan Ford Mazda Automobile is a venture between Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., Ford and Mazda Motor Corp.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stanley James at sjames8@bloomberg.net"

chinafordofchinabuilds5.jpg

"Ford celebrates the production of its 500,000th Focus model at its Chongqing plant."

Record vehicle sales are expected | freep.com | Detroit Free Press

"Record vehicle sales are expected
BY GREG GARDNER Posted: Sept. 28, 2010
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

China's surging economy will propel global sales of cars and trucks to a record high of 69.6 million vehicles this year, according to the chief automotive economist of IHS Automotive.

"Government incentives (such as last year's cash-for-clunkers program in the U.S. and other rebates for buying more fuel-efficient cars) will drive about 1 million of those sales," said Nigel Griffiths, the IHS economist. Those incentives have ended in Italy and Germany, and will end in Japan in 2012. A group of the company's analysts met with journalists Monday in Northville.

The previous best year for global new-vehicle sales was 69.5 million in 2007, the year before the global financial meltdown triggered by the bursting of the U.S. housing market bubble.

China is now the world's largest automotive market, with 13.5 million sales last year, an increase of 45% from 2008. Nomura Securities of Japan released a report this month that China's automotive market will nearly double to 25 million vehicles by 2014.

Much of that growth will be fueled by the Chinese government's aggressive subsidies for the production and purchase of electric vehicles.

Beginning earlier this year, consumers in five large cities became eligible for discounts of $8,785 off the price of an all-electric car and about $7,320 off plug-in hybrids. The money is paid directly to carmakers, which will reduce the vehicle price.

Tianshu Xin, who is responsible for IHS's Chinese automotive research, said the government in Beijing has set a goal of putting 5 million electric vehicles on the road by 2020.

Back in the U.S., IHS expects new-vehicle sales to rebound from last year's lowest-in-27-years 10.4 million to 11.35 million for all of 2010. If that seems like a painfully slow recovery, the firm foresees a more robust demand of 12.8 million vehicles in the U.S. next year.

Griffiths said there is a less than a 25% chance for the U.S. economy to sink back into recession in the next year.

Contact GREG GARDNER: 313-222-8762 or ggardner@freepress.com"

chinachanganfordmazdapl.jpg

"New cars at Ford's Chongqing factory in China."
 
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"This 8-ton excavator comes with an air conditioned cab."

UPDATE: Caterpillar To Build Plant In China For Small Excavators - WSJ.com

"UPDATE: Caterpillar To Build Plant In China For Small Excavators
By Bob Tita Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
SEPTEMBER 28, 2010, 9:45 P.M. ET

CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) said Tuesday it will build a new assembly plant in China to produce small hydraulic excavators, as the company continues to expand out its production capacity in developing regions of the world.

Construction of the new plant in Wujiang is expected to begin by the end of the year, with excavator production scheduled to start in 2012. Wujiang is in the Jiangsu Province on China's eastern coast. The company did not disclose the cost of the new plant.

Caterpillar, the world's largest manufacturer of construction equipment by sales, has been supplying the Chinese market with excavators weighing less than eight tons from plants in Xuzhou, China, and Sagami, Japan. Opening a separate plant for mini-excavators in China will free up production space for other equipment lines in the plants in Xuzhou and Sagami, the Peoria, Ill.-based company said.

"China is the world's largest market for excavators in the below 8-ton class," said Mary Bell, vice president of the Caterpillar's Building Construction Products division, which is responsible for the company's compact machinery lines.

Caterpillar has been overhauling its production sites this year to boost its manufacturing capacity in China, Brazil and other markets where the rapid construction of highways, airports, mines and public transportation infrastructure is driving demand for wheel-loaders, bulldozers, excavators and other machinery.

Caterpillar earlier this month announced that it bought a former auto assembly plant in Campo Largo, Brazil, to expand production of its backhoe loaders and small wheel loaders. The backhoe plant will allow Caterpillar to expand production of its larger construction machinery at its flagship factory in Piracicaba.

Brazil is seen as a key growth market for construction machinery in the coming years as the country ramps up construction to host the 2016 summer Olympics and the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament.

Caterpillar also plans to construct a new assembly plant for excavators in Texas to consolidate production of excavators currently being assembled at plants in Aurora, Ill., and Akashi, Japan. The move will allow the Akashi plant to focus on supplying machinery demand in the Asia-Pacific region, where sales of equipment have been surging. The Aurora plant, meanwhile, will produce a new line of hydraulic mining shovels, as Caterpillar looks to expand its presence in the global mining sector.

Caterpillar ended Tuesday's regular trading session up 0.16%, or 13 cents, at $79.67 a share.

-By Bob Tita, Dow Jones Newswires; 312-750-4129; robert.tita@dowjones.com"
 
ContiTech Opens Forward-Looking Plant in China

"ContiTech Opens Forward-Looking Plant in China
March 15, 2010
From Gasgoo.com

Changshu, March 10, 2010. At a festive ceremony, Hanover, Germany-based ContiTech AG inaugurated its recently completed plant "ContiTech China Rubber & Plastics Technology Ltd." in Changshu (Jiangsu Province, China); 100 kilometers northwest of Shanghai.

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ContiTech China Rubber & Plastics Technology Ltd., Contitech's new plant in China

Initially, three business units – Air Spring Systems (air suspension systems), Fluid Technology (hoses and hose line systems) and Vibration Control (including acoustic insulation) – are commencing operations here. An almost €40 million investment, the facility will produce mainly for the Chinese and other Asian markets. A further phase of expansion and erection, including a rubber compounding center for the location, are slated for the future.

Mr. Wang Xiang, Party Secretary of Changshu CPC Committee and Heinz-Gerhard Wente, CEO of ContiTech AG, officiated at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. The plant opening marks a key milestone for the future of the company in China. In his welcoming remarks, Wente highlighted the importance of the location for customers in China and for ContiTech itself, one of the world’s leading specialists for rubber and plastics technology: “Changshu is the new productive heart for our customers in China. We are creating here a forward-looking strategic center for our long-term operations in Asia. Our roots may be in Germany, but we have long since made ourselves at home here as well and see a key portion of our future viability in China.”

Long-term and successful engagement for and in China

ContiTech has been active in China already for 30 years. With components and systems – such as hose lines, vibration components, air springs, soft trim, conveyor belts, drive belts and coated fabrics – produced within the country at currently nine modern production plants, ContiTech very successfully services the needs of the automotive industry, machine and plant engineering and construction, mining, the printing industry and rail transportation. The company presently has 1,200 employees in China, with its workforce growing virtually by the day. In the face of a severe global economic crisis, ContiTech was able to up sales in China 34 percent in fiscal 2009. The long-range target is to more than double current sales volume in China by 2014; boosting it from €133 million at present to approximately €300 million.

Unique advantages for Chinese industry

China is viewed as one of ContiTech's key markets in the coming decades. “The country’s need for technological innovations and advanced developments matches up perfectly with our more than 130 years of mature production and development know-how. We offer high-tech products made of rubber and plastic that provide our Chinese industrial partners immense effectiveness in developing solutions in the areas of mobility, energy production and efficiency, and environmental protection,” notes Wente, underscoring the advantages for Chinese industry.

About the company

ContiTech AG is a division of the international automotive supplier Continental. With sales of approximately €20 billion in 2009, Continental is among the leading automotive suppliers worldwide. As a supplier of brake systems, systems and components for powertrains and chassis, instrumentation, infotainment solutions, vehicle electronics, tires and technical elastomers, Continental contributes enhanced driving safety and global climate protection. Continental is also a competent partner in networked automobile communication. Continental currently employs approximately 134,500 in 46 countries.

The ContiTech division holds a global market leadership position for many non-tire rubber products and is a specialist in plastics technology in the non-tire rubber sector. The division develops and produces functional parts, components and systems for the automotive industry and other important industries. The division has a workforce of approximately 22,000 employees. In 2009, it achieved sales of approximately €2.4 billion."
 
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"(Clockwise from left) Three-, 5-, and 6-day-old cloned blastocysts."

"At the press release, leader of the research team, Li Jian-yuan explained the newly invented cloning technology is expected to facilitate medical treatment for patients like the sufferers of Parkinson disease."

CellNEWS: Chinese Researchers Make Cloned Human Blastocysts

"Chinese Researchers Make Cloned Human Blastocysts
Tuesday, 3 February 2009

SCNT Using an Alternative Enucleation Method for Patient-specific Embryonic Stem Cells (ESCs)
Tuesday, 03 February 2009

China Daily report that a research team at the Shandong Stem Cell Engineering Research Center has successfully cloned five human blastulas from 135 eggs on experiment, according to a press conference jointly held by the research centre and Yantai Procreation Medicine Center on Monday. The Yantai Region is located north-central on the Shandong Peninsula, south of the Bohai Sea.

Of the five cloned human blastulas, four were from skin fibroblasts of healthy donors while the other one was from lymphocytes of patients with Parkinson disease.

At the press release, leader of the research team, Li Jian-yuan explained the newly invented cloning technology is expected to facilitate medical treatment for patients like the sufferers of Parkinson disease.

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) was used to generate patient-specific embryonic stem cells (ESCs) from blastocysts cloned by nuclear transfer (ntESCs). In this study, a total of 135 oocytes were obtained from 12 healthy donors (30–35 years). Human oocytes, obtained within 2 h following aspiration, were enucleated and human fibroblasts or lymphocytes were used to construct the SCNT embryos.

The web edition of the science journal "Cloning and Stem Cells" reported the Chinese scientific achievement on January 27, 2009.

Reference:
Human Embryos Derived by Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer Using an Alternative Enucleation Approach
Jianyuan Li, Xuexia Liu, Haiyan Wang, Shouxin Zhang, Fujun Liu, Xuebo Wang, Yanwei Wang. Cloning and Stem Cells. ahead of print. doi:10.1089/clo.2008.0041"
 
China Gets Success In Cloning World's First Rabbit - Science Ahead

"China gets success in cloning world's first rabbit
Parul G | Jul 24 2007

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After research of more than three decades in cloning and producing the first cloned animal, a goat in 2000, China has once again been successful in cloning world’s first rabbit. The Chinese scientists have produced the cloned female rabbit biologically, using the somatic cells of a rabbit fetus.

Dr. Li Shangang who conducted the experiment of rabbit cloning is a researcher at the National Center for Molecular Genetics and Animal Breeding of the Beijing Institute of Animal Sciences.

Dr. Li and his team chose the back skin cells of a 20-day old rabbit embryo. They cultured these cells into fibroblast cell lines. Then these fibroblast cells (donor cells) were fused with an enucleated rabbit’s oocyte (immature egg cell of animal ovary) through electric pulse. Thus cloned embroys were produced which were later transferred into the rabbit’s oviduct. The female clone rabbit was born after a month-long normal pregnancy on February 12 and had weighed 60 grams at birth. Now the rabbit is doing well and is at an animal center in Shanghai.

The first animal to be cloned using somatic cells was the sheep - Dolly in 1996. Since then many other animals as mice, cattle and pigs have been cloned by scientists.

In 2002, French scientists too had claimed to produce the world’s first cloned rabbit but that was done by using cells from an adult female rabbit. However, the Chinese rabbit is the world’s first clone rabbit that has used “fibroblast” cells from a fetal rabbit.

On the achievement, Wang Hongguang, director of the China Center for Biotechnology Development affiliated to the Ministry of Science and Technology said:

Chinese cloning research has reached a global advanced level. We can reproduce almost all the cloning results in top-class laboratories around the world. However, we are lacking in original creations such as the newly cloned rabbit.

Rabbits are considered significant research tools because of their shorter gestation period than other big mammals such as sheep or cows.

Malaysia has also turned to cloning and is in efforts to clone some of its threatened leatherback turtles to save them from extinction.

Source: Reuters"

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"China's Liberation Daily reports today that the world's first transgenic-cloned rabbit is now three months old and living happily in Shanghai. The rabbit was cloned from the skin cells of a 20-day-old embryo, which were then implanted into the oviduct of a female rabbit."
(The photo shows the cloned rabbit (left) and her surrogate mother.
Posted by Xujun Eberlein)

World's 1st GM cloned rabbit may reproduce in 3 months -- china.org.cn

"As rabbits share similar genes with humans, the genetically-modified cloned rabbit is expected to be used for research into cardiovascular and eye diseases as well as some genetic ailments, said Dr. Li Shangang with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences."
 
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