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Sinomania!
"It is the unity of a troop, not its numerical strength, that ensures victory over the enemy." -- Chinese Maxim

China Moves the World (Mar 10)

It is an interesting irony that the same mainstream media that criticizes Chinese government data as untrustworthy claims that same data is capable of moving commodities, currency, and stock prices the world over. Consider today's headlines. Chinese numbers on exports and inflation are responsible we read for stock markets going up in the USA, Canada, and Brazil; affected the Mexican Peso, the (US) Dollar, and the Yen; and impacted gold and oil markets!....

USA-China Venture Builds Largest Biologics Lab in Beijing (Mar 9)

AutekBio, a Silicon Valley based biotech business with operations in China, will build Asia's largest biologic contract manufacturing organization (CMO) outside Beijing. The $100 million (US dollar) facility is financed by US and China venture capital firms. The labs will meet current US (FDA) and EU regulatory requirements and be able to handle multiple production lines for biopharmaceutical research and development....

China Gets North Korean Port on Sea of Japan (Mar 9)

The provincial government of Jilin Province in Manchuria told the National People's Congress today that the North Korean government agreed to lease the port of Rajin on the northeastern coast of the Sea of Japan to China for 10 years. Use of the port will give sea access to the landlocked hinterlands of Manchuria for the first time since the collapse of the Qing Dynasty. Rajin is included in economic and trade zones originally created as part of the UN sponsored Tumen River Area Development Programme between Russia, China, and North Korea. Russia is upgrading a railway from the border to Rajin in what may be competing investment. Chinese development of Rajin port could jump start the Tumen River region. This development has important implications for the economy and navy balance in the region....

Beijing's Ambitious Plans to Settle the West by Rail (Mar 8)

Wang Mengshu, a Chinese expert in railway engineering and tunneling, has made a splash telling newpapers from the South China Morning Post to the Telegraph of Beijing's plans to extend high-speed railways into Central Asia and connect China to southeast Asia and eventually Europe.

The heads of China Eastern (NYSE:CEA) and China Southern (NYSE:ZNH) airlines warn that the Chinese high-speed rail network threatens their market for short and medium hauls. Some analysts believe that once complete Chinese railways will make flights under 800 kilometers (under 500 miles) uncompetitive potentially eliminating a great deal of flights. Investors in Chinese airlines should take this possibility seriously.

"We foresee that in the coming decades, hundreds of millions of people will migrate to the western regions" Wang said when discussing a plan to build high-speed rail from Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang autonomous region, to the Caspian Sea and beyond. It is interesting to speculate on just how tr...

China Reaches Peak Oil with Call for Bigger Strategic Reserves (Mar 8)

Chinese oil production has essentially peaked and the country's strategic reserve is insufficient according to National People's Congress delegate Chen Geng. Geng is a former executive of state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. China is one of the top oil producers in the world at just under 4 million barrels per day. Data of the International Energy Agency shows production increasing around 3% a year over the medium term but long term forecasts show the share of imported oil increasing much faster. Chinese press reporting from the Congress session say there are calls to greatly increase the strategic oil reserves currently targeted at 170 million barrels. By contrast the USA has almost 700 million barrels stored in salt caverns around the country....

TRADE WAR: US Anti-Dumping Duties of 349% on Chinese Bricks (Mar 6)

The US Commerce Department is pursuing at least 20 countervailing and anti-dumping duties cases against China. Yesterday a ruling put preliminary duties ranging from 132.74% to 349% on magnesia carbon bricks imported from China. In 2008 the USA imported $50.8 million of Chinese bricks. The original complaint came from one US maker, Resco Products Inc., a privately held conglomerate out of Pittsburgh.

Earlier this week Commerce slapped duties of 109% on certain types of coated paper and 13% extra on Chinese salts....

Visit Florida China (Mar 5)

The Sunshine State's new tourism marketing program Visit Florida is aggressively pursuing Chinese tourists - the fastest growing group of foreign visitors to the USA. This year Chinese tourist numers are expected to grow 15% overall and Florida wants a share. The state has an office in Shanghai and numerous programs to bring in more Chinese. It is anticipated that within 10 years China will be the world's number #4 source of foreign travelers.

Florida's efforts are in contrast to the damaging and divisive actions by their own Congressional Representaton such as Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) Republican Congresswoman from the 18th District that includes Miami. Visit Florida should consider whether their cause is helped each time Ros-Lehtinen sponsors legislation or makes an official statement against "Communist China".....

Gamet Bearings Gets Guanxi (Mar 5)

Gamet Bearings, a manufacturer of precision ball bearings and related equipment in Colchester, UK, understands the importance of Guanxi in building business in China. Gamet spent nearly two years developing close relations with Chinese businesses and prospective partners in several Chinese cities. The company now anticipates a good future supplying components to China's aerospace and other industries - good news for the borough of Colchester and for UK exports. Gamet is part of the 600 Group PLC a machine tool conglomerate. Last year the 600 Group announced it would no longer outsource production to China over quality concerns....

China's Parliament Convenes (Mar 5)

The annual session of the Chinese unicameral legislature opened in the Great Hall of the People today in Beijing. It is the third session of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC) and will run to around March 15. Many observers, particularly American mainstream media, dismiss the NPC session as a carefully controlled rubber stamp farce. But reporters expecting surprises don't understand the institution or the process. The NPC is one of the world's largest representative bodies. And yes it is representative. Approximately 3,000 delegates are selected by the Chinese Communist Party by an elaborate method and in some instances by direct election down to the village level. Some of the elections are internationally recognized as fair and competitive. The NPC affirms the direction China is going and gives law to Beijing’s policies.

Prime Minister Wen Jiabao opened with a report on the economy and presentation of the central government budget. As in many nations today the Chinese govern...

US-China Fence Mending Falls Flat (Mar 4)

The Obama Administration's emissary to Beijing left empty-handed and is now in Tokyo in a reversal of the old Tokyo first then Beijing protocol. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and chief Asia analyst at the National Security Council Jeffrey Bader met with Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and State Councilor Dai Bingguo. Both Washington and Beijing billed the visit as an attempt to ease tensions over recent disputes on trade, the Dalai Lama, and arms sales to Taiwan. But judging from what the State Department disclosed today the meeting was just more lip service on established positions. Beijing may feel assuaged that the emissary came directly to China. We can only hope that more substantive talks did occur behind the silk screens otherwise the stalemate continues....