What's new

Here's what China can buy with $3-trn forex

noksss

SENIOR MEMBER
Joined
Apr 17, 2010
Messages
2,950
Reaction score
-15
Country
India
Location
Singapore
At the end of March 2011, China's foreign exchange reserves scaled a new peak. They shot past $3 trillion (about Rs 135 trillion!).
And despite the fact that China showed a trade deficit in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2011, the Chinese central bank figures reveal that its forex reserves touched the gargantuan figure of $3.0447 trillion.

Financial magazine The Economist recently ran an article that spoke of what the Asian giant could buy with the mountain of forex reserves it has at its disposal.
On the calculations it made, the magazine said: 'These frivolous calculations illustrate the vast scale of China's reserves but also the great difficulty it faces in diversifying them.'

So, what can China, which keeps most of its foreign reserves in the United States government securities, buy with its $3 trillion forex reserves?

1) With $3 trillion foreign reserves, China can gift one Tata Nano each to every Indian (yes, each of the 1.23 billion Indians) and still have change for year's worth of average petrol consumption.

With just one generous act, it can not only put all Indian on the fast track, it can also push traffic congestion beyond bearable


2)China could buy all of the outstanding sovereign debt of Spain, Ireland, Portugal and Greece, solving the euro area's debt crisis in a trice, says The Economist.

And it would still have almost half of its reserves left over.

3)Instead of buying up debt, China can buy equity. Meaning, instead of putting most of its reserves into US government securities, China could instead go on a shopping spree in the corporate world.

It can gobble up Apple, Microsoft, IBM and Google for less than $1 trillion. By buying all the major corporations, it can dictate terms and prices to the world. Hmmm...


4)It can go the way sheikhs and oligarchs are going and acquire sport clubs.
According to Forbes magazine, the 50 most valuable sports franchises around the world are worth around $50.4 billion in 2010, less than 2 per cent of China's foreign exchange reserves.

5)Rich love buying property, and nobody is richer than China -- at least in terms of the foreign exchange reserves it sits on. . so it can acquire hot property.

China can buy all of Manhattan, calculated The Economist. The island's taxable real estate is worth only $287 billion, according to the New York City government.
The properties of Washington, DC, are valued at just $232 billion. China can go from being America's banker to its landlord, The Economist said.

With over Rs 1,35,00,000 crore at its disposal, you can very well figure out how many 2-bedroom apartments it could buy in, say, a city like Mumbai

6)Three trillion dollars would buy about 88 per cent of 2011's global oil supply, says The Economist.

China can buy up all the oil, raise the prices and enjoy the profits.

7)It would take only $1.87 trillion (at 2009 prices) to buy all of the farmland (and farm buildings) in the United States.

If China acquires all the agriculture farms and farm buildings, it can easily control the world's food prices, as America is the biggest exporter of food products, according to The Economist


8)China could theoretically buy America's entire Department of Defence, which has assets worth only $1.9 trillion, according to its 2010 balance sheet, says The Economist.

Most of this amount would actually be able to buy all the land, buildings and investments made by the US Department of Defence. The entire armament -- guns, tanks and other military apapratus -- is valued at $413.7 billion, says The Economist.


The calculations might seem frivolous but they amply demonstrate the might of the Chinese nation.

With a fraction of that amount, China can buy all the top Indian companies. It can buy over more than 7,800 Airbus A380s, the largest passenger aircraft on earth.

That kind of money has the potential of taking care of almost all of India's infrastructural problems -- power, roads, rail and air connectivity, hospitals, and more...


link:Here's what China can buy with $3 trn forex - Rediff.com Business
 
.
let's don't forget the total investment we already made in the past 30 years:

we built 74,000 kilometres expressways.
we built 8,358 km kilometres high speed railway (>250km/h).
we built 2,000 km metro networks across 10 of our biggest population centers.
we upgraded numerous sea ports and airports.

not to mention the significant effort already put to upgrade our cities like Shanghai/Beijing/Shenzhen/Guangzhou/Tianjing/Nanjing/Hangzhou/Dalian/Qingdao/Wuxi/Suzhou

as a direct consequence, we single-handedly made australia a developed nation by buying their dirty rocks.

:bounce:
 
.
let's don't forget the total investment we already made in the past 30 years:

we built 74,000 kilometres expressways.
we built 8,358 km kilometres high speed railway (>250km/h).
we built 2,000 km metro networks across 10 of our biggest population centers.
we upgraded numerous sea ports and airports.

not to mention the significant effort already put to upgrade our cities like Shanghai/Beijing/Shenzhen/Guangzhou/Tianjing/Nanjing/Hangzhou/Dalian/Qingdao/Wuxi/Suzhou

as a direct consequence, we single-handedly made australia a developed nation by buying their dirty rocks.

:bounce:

Let be honest my Peaceful friend...Not even in your dream, you expected that an indian would post such a thread...lol


Where is chinese-dragon who thinks that all indians call chinese as" Dirty chinks".. Today could be realization day
 
.
Let be honest my Peaceful friend...Not even in your dream, you expected that an indian would post such a thread...lol

Where is chinese-dragon who thinks that all indians call chinese as" Dirty chinks".. Today could be realization day

I don't understand what you are talking about and I honestly don't care.

Please don't overestimate your importance.
 
.
Let be honest my Peaceful friend...Not even in your dream, you expected that an indian would post such a thread...lol


Where is chinese-dragon who thinks that all indians call chinese as" Dirty chinks".. Today could be realization day

doesnt make any sense to this thread, whats your point?
 
.
as a direct consequence, we single-handedly made australia a developed nation by buying their dirty rocks.

Lol no. Are you aware that Australia has been a country with 1 of the best standards of living in the world since 1920? That's long before the mining boom.
 
. .
If I have that money, I would try to buy all the land that China lost since the Qing era. On behalf of the PRC of course.
 
. .
There are a few flaws
With $3 trillion foreign reserves, China can gift one Tata Nano each to every Indian (yes, each of the 1.23 billion Indians) and still have change for year's worth of average petrol consumption.

With just one generous act, it can not only put all Indian on the fast track, it can also push traffic congestion beyond bearable
I still could not understand why did he use India when he could use China as reference as well since both have are 1 Billion+ (population)countries

China could buy all of the outstanding sovereign debt of Spain, Ireland, Portugal and Greece, solving the euro area's debt crisis in a trice, says The Economist.
Why would China buy the troubled debt that we in financial markets today term as "Sovereign Distressed Debt" I dont know why did he use this reference?
Instead of buying up debt, China can buy equity. Meaning, instead of putting most of its reserves into US government securities, China could instead go on a shopping spree in the corporate world.
I am unable to comprehend this as well, sovereign wealth funds like KIC, GIC lost almost 60% of their investment values in just 2008,2009 considering china would be in equities, more than a half of its hard earned reserves would have been wipped out.

These authors are so "good" in implying logic that departs sanity by miles
 
.
^^^ It is an article for understanding the magnitude.

However, I have a few party busting observation as a student of economics.

The moment China starts shopping the value of dollar will nose dive. China and US are in a bear hug. Any move for protectionism by US will plunge Chinese economy as over capacity and under utilisation will cause havoc.
Any move by China to dislodge US dollars from its forex will cause its value to degrade. It is a catch 22 and only time ill tell how things will settle.
 
.
Overcapacity is nonsense made by the white man.

Its like a fat man stuck on an island has 3 hardworking men working for him to gather food, kill animals and make a fire, yet he claims that without him, all the other 3 would be unemployed and starve to death.

If necessary, the government can just buy the goods, dump them into the ocean, and pay people to dig them up and reprocess them.
 
.
However, I have a few party busting observation as a student of economics.

Study is very important especially for young people. that is also the reason why I spent 10 years in two universities and completed my B.Eng, M.Eng and PhD. However, I have to point out a well known fact that IQ will not be improved by studying, as individual or as a nation.

The moment China starts shopping the value of dollar will nose dive. China and US are in a bear hug. Any move for protectionism by US will plunge Chinese economy as over capacity and under utilisation will cause havoc.
Any move by China to dislodge US dollars from its forex will cause its value to degrade. It is a catch 22 and only time ill tell how things will settle.

1. The domestic demand is increasing at an amazing rate. Just 5-6 years ago, not many average families can afford to own a car, it is like a dream for many. In 2010, 18 million cars were sold in Chinese market, it is expect to hit 21 million in 21 million, that scale will be almost twice as large as the US market. Over capacity?

Please, just honestly answer me a simple question: how many Chinese have IPhone, 24 inches LCD monitor (not tv) or a single cloth over $300.

2. A pretty big chunk of the economy is built on low value added sectors and the government is pretty eager to get ride of those "capacity". Let me give you an personal account: my father's company has been ordered to shutdown for environmental protection reason. The company is doing 100% great, export to the US are bringing serious $$$, they have even secured a huge contract for next few years. Yet, this capacity is considered as "unwanted" by the government and their product was halted last week.

If india/indians can do it right, same thing may happen in india in another 30-50 years, however, based on my assessement on your mindset and the assumption that you are probably average indian, then I would have to see india is never going to see that day.

there must be reasons why our economy is 4 times as big as yours.
 
.
When will people really understand that Forex reserves are not like a kid's piggy bank. They serve no purpose if used for shopping sprees!
 
.
The money can help us defeat all Hedge funds, to protect our financial security.
 
.

Pakistan Defence Latest Posts

Pakistan Affairs Latest Posts

Back
Top Bottom