What's new

China Economy Forum

June 17, 2014

818457845.jpg

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II (C) receives Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (L) and his wife Cheng Hong (R) at Windsor Castle, in Windsor, west of London, on Tuesday on the first full day of a three day visit by the Chinese premier to Britain.


Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II meets Chinese premier
Aims to repair strained relations between London and Beijing

Queen Elizabeth II welcomed Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to Windsor Castle on Tuesday on a visit to Britain which aims to repair strained relations between London and Beijing.

Dozens of Chinese were waiting outside the mediaeval castle, west of London, to greet Li on the first full day of his three-day visit to Britain.

Queen Elizabeth, 88, welcomed the 48-year-old premier with a smile and a handshake as they met in the castle’s White Drawing Room.

They were joined by Li’s wife Cheng Hong, and Prince Andrew, the queen’s second son, who works to promote the creation of skilled jobs in Britain.

Andrew, the Duke of York, greeted Li and his party when they arrived at Windsor Castle in limousines.

The Times newspaper reported last week that Beijing made a meeting between Li and the queen a precondition for the visit and threatened to call it off if it was not arranged.

Li was later to meet British Prime Minister David Cameron for talks at his Downing Street office, aimed at boosting economic links and warming ties that were frozen over Tibet.

Cameron’s May 2012 meeting with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama infuriated Beijing.

Li’s visit marks the latest stage in a painstaking diplomatic rehabilitation effort and could lead to business deals worth $30.5 billion.

British energy giant BP has already said it will sign a deal worth around $20 billion over 20 years with Chinese state-owned peer CNOOC to supply China with liquefied natural gas.

Britain also announced an easing of visa restrictions for Chinese tourists and business people.

Li’s trip to Britain is the first by a Chinese premier since his predecessor Wen Jiabao visited in 2011.

The last president to visit was Hu Jintao in 2005, in a trip dogged by protests by pro-Tibet and human rights campaigners.

The Free Tibet campaign group had written to Queen Elizabeth, urging her not to meet Li.

They claimed the meeting “does not appear to be in the interests of the monarchy, the United Kingdom, or those resisting oppression across the world”.

Pro-Tibet campaigners demonstrated outside Downing Street, posing in handcuffs and waving placards reading “Free Tibet before free trade”.

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II meets Chinese premier | GulfNews.com
 
Robot sales shift to higher gear as labor force wanes

(China Daily, June 18)

Robotics companies are expected to triple sales in China to around 110,000 sets by 2020 as more Chinese manufacturers embrace the high-end growth path, a senior industry official said on Tuesday.

Wang Ruixiang, head of the China Machinery Industry Federation, said based on the rapid growth of the nation's robotic industry in recent years, the federation has set a high target and the government will continue to provide support for the industry's development.

By 2030, sales of industrial robots will reach 290,000 sets and a couple of Chinese companies would be among the top five robotics companies in the world, Wang said.

"As the world's second-largest economy, China has huge potential in the robot market, which is prompting more foreign and domestic companies to invest in the sector," he said.

According to a recent United Nations report, China is likely to see a sharp fall in its labor force by 2015. The labor shortage and the lack of advanced technologies represent huge business opportunities for the robotics sector, said Song Xiaogang, secretary-general of the China Robot Industry Alliance.

According to data provided by the alliance, 37,000 industrial robots were sold in China last year, a 36 percent growth over 2012.

full: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/busines...t_17595811.htm



China becomes world's largest robot market

(China Daily, June 17)

China bought one fifth of the world's industrial robot output in 2013, overtaking Japan as the biggest buyer of such technology, new data showed on Tuesday.

Some 36,860 industrial robots were sold in the Chinese market last year, up 36 percent on an annual basis, according to data released by the China Robot Industry Alliance (CRIA).

Some 9,597 units came from domestic producers, while the rest of the market, around 73 percent, was gripped by foreign robot makers, the CRIA said.

China's industrial robot sector has witnessed booming development over the past decade, with sales revenue growing by around 25 percent each year.
Wang Ruixiang, president of the China Machinery Industry Federation, attributed the rapid increase to the country's diverse manufacturing sector creating huge demand.

Industrial robots have been widely applied in 25 major sectors in China, including food, chemicals, electronics and automobiles.

full: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/busines...t_17595135.htm


Market of 3D printers to double in 2014

(China Daily, June 18)

Turnover of China's 3D printing market is set to double in 2014 compared to 2013, according to an industry insider.

"The decades-old 3D printing technology is finally starting to expand in China, where the market size is poised to reach at least 4 billion yuan ($642 million) by the end of this year," said Luo Jun, chief executive of China 3D Printing Technology Industry Alliance.

The growth will easily be double of last year's figure of around 2 billion yuan, according to statistics released by the alliance, the nation's largest 3D printing organization.

Luo warned that rapid growth in low-end printer market may cause intense competition.

About 50 manufacturers of 3D printers have started operations in China over the past year and most of them provide low-precision devices, said Luo.

"Chinese vendors should sit down and discuss the future of the industry, or low-end competition will exhaust public's interest for desk-top printers," he added.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/busines...t_17598157.htm
 
The US creates the wealth, then spends it at Walmart, sending the wealth to China.

Then the US "borrows" back the wealth for domestic spending, which includes more imports, sending some back to China.

Then the Chinese put the money back into the US economy via FDI and more treasury purchases.

And the only way for any of this "wealth" to be worth anything is if both parties continue the dance.

:bad:
 
A word of advice to Chinese corporations, though: stay away from Pebble Beach and Rockefeller Center.

Yep, those trophy properties sound boring anyway.

We should invest in something more dynamic. :D

The US creates the wealth, then spends it at Walmart, sending the wealth to China.

Then the US "borrows" back the wealth for domestic spending, which includes more imports, sending some back to China.

Then the Chinese put the money back into the US economy via FDI and more treasury purchases.

And the only way for any of this "wealth" to be worth anything is if both parties continue the dance.

:bad:

The best things to have are real/tangible assets, like land and factories.

Because even if their value on paper falls to zero, they still have intrinsic worth, and if push comes to shove you can at least live there.
 
Last edited:
The US creates the wealth, then spends it at Walmart, sending the wealth to China.

Then the US "borrows" back the wealth for domestic spending, which includes more imports, sending some back to China.

Then the Chinese put the money back into the US economy via FDI and more treasury purchases.

And the only way for any of this "wealth" to be worth anything is if both parties continue the dance.

:bad:

We haven't discussed this much here, but the trade imbalance is somewhat misleading, because the "wealth," as you put it, often belongs to foreign companies that use China as their manufacturing base. It's manufactured in China, and exported from China, but the profit often belongs to foreign companies.
 
We haven't discussed this much here, but the trade imbalance is somewhat misleading, because the "wealth," as you put it, often belongs to foreign companies that use China as their manufacturing base. It's manufactured in China, and exported from China, but the profit often belongs to foreign companies.

I have gathered from a few of your posts, as well as your pseudonym, that you are a financial industry insider (quite the detective, huh?) I wouldn't mind seeing more such discussion, but it would probably receive limited participation due to the esoteric nature of it all.

I realize that was a vast over-simplification of how it all works, but sometimes simple is effective in conveying a message. :happy:
 
I have gathered from a few of your posts, as well as your pseudonym, that you are a financial industry insider (quite the detective, huh?) I wouldn't mind seeing more such discussion, but it would probably receive limited participation due to the esoteric nature of it all.

I realize that was a vast over-simplification of how it all works, but sometimes simple is effective in conveying a message. :happy:

When I come across a timely article on the matter, I would be happy to post a thread on it. In the meantime, it's a bit old, but here is one example.

Trade statistics: iPadded | The Economist

logo.svg


Trade statistics
iPadded
The trade gap between America and China is much exaggerated
From the print edition
20120121_FNP002_0.jpg

AMERICA'S trade deficit with China hit another record last year. Estimated at almost $300 billion, it made up over 40% of America's total deficit. Yet official data grossly overstate US imports from China.

20120121_FNC397.gif

Take the iPad, which America imports from China even though it is entirely designed and owned by Apple, an American company. iPads are assembled in Chinese factories owned by Foxconn, a Taiwanese firm, largely from parts produced outside China. According to a studyby the Personal Computing Industry Centre, each iPad sold in America adds $275, the total production cost, to America's trade deficit with China, yet the value of the actual work performed in China accounts for only $10. Using these numbers, The Economist estimates that iPads accounted for around $4 billion of America's reported trade deficit with China in 2011; but if China's exports were measured on a value-added basis, the deficit was only $150m.

The chart shows a geographical breakdown of the retail price of an iPad. The main rewards go to American shareholders and workers. Apple's profit amounts to about 30% of the sales price. Product design, software development and marketing are based in America. Add in the profits and wages of American suppliers, and distribution and retail costs, and America retains about half the total value of an iPad sold there. The next biggest gainers are South Korean firms like Samsung and LG, which provide the display and memory chips, whose profits account for 7% of an iPad's value. The main financial benefit to China is wages paid to workers for assembling the product and for manufacturing some inputs—equivalent to only 2% of the retail price.

20110820_WOD999_290.jpg
Find out how much of an Apple iPhone is actually a Samsung with our "teardown" infographic
China's small contribution to total costs suggests that a yuan appreciation would have little impact on its exports. A 20% rise in the yuan would add less than 1% to the import price of an iPad. For imports such as clothing and toys the Chinese value added is much higher. But electrical machinery and equipment, with more complex cross-border supply chains, make up one-quarter of China's exports to America. Pascal Lamy, the head of the World Trade Organisation, has suggested that if trade statistics reflected true domestic content, America's deficit with China might be more than halved.

From the print edition: Finance and economics
 
China Looking to Get on Board Britain's High Speed 2

By Sean Martin | IB Times – Tue, Jun 17, 2014

China has given a fresh boost to UK's major infrastructure projects by saying that its largest bank wants to become a substantial backer behind the plans, including the controversial high speed rail.

China Development Bank (CDB), one of the largest lenders worldwide, wants to directly fund two of UK's largest projects, according to the BBC, in the form of High Speed 2 (HS2), the planned high-speed railway, and the next generation of nuclear power stations.

The Beeb says that CBD and The CityUK have signed a Memorandum of Understanding which will encourage CBD lending to the UK.

Brokered by Sir Gerry Grimstone, the CityUK's chairman, the agreement will also see The CityUK and CDB trade in the renminbi – China's currency – which could see trading opportunities between the two become even more free flowing.

"They are interested in nuclear, high speed rail and telecommunications. High Speed 2 was one of the things they specifically mentioned [in the meeting this morning]. Knowing the finance is available is an important part of any project. This is an important development," Grimstone told the BBC.

China's potential investment in HS2 will be a breath of fresh air for the British taxpayer and Downing Street, as the latter had previously said that the financial burden of this project would be borne by the former.

CBD spends billions of pounds a year, supporting projects in Africa and Asia. It now seems however that it is looking to extend its reach into Europe.

HS2 has proved to be a handsome business proposition for the Chinese. Premier of China, Li Keqiang, originally offered China's services last December, before China Railway Service moved to get on board.

"HS2 could be an attractive investment opportunity. This is not some wishy-washy diplomatic gesture," Grimstone continued.

China Looking to Get on Board Britain's High Speed 2 - Yahoo News UK
 
Back
Top Bottom