May 19, 2008
Sichuan Earthquake Effect on China's Economy - China Aircraft to Compete with Boeing, Airbus
full transcript at www.sinomania.com
The economic effects of the big Sichuan earthquake disaster; Bear market rally but Chinese stocks still down overall; China to challenge world market for jet planes; Japan and China to agree on joint oil and gas development in East China sea... Sinomania! Volume II Episode 57, May 12, 2008
The economic effects of the big Sichuan earthquake disaster; Bear market rally but Chinese stocks still down overall; China to challenge world market for jet planes; Japan and China to agree on joint oil and gas development in East China sea... Sinomania! Volume II Episode 57, May 12, 2008
May 16, 2008
Here Comes Chery!
Chinese auto bloggers are buzzing about Chery Automobile's word that it will begin exporting its A1 minicar to North America in the second half of 2008. The Chery A1 (pictured) is a 1.3 liter hatchback that already sells inside China as the Kimino. Chery says is has passed crash tests and road testing to qualify for European and North American standards. Unclear is whether the A1 will be branded a Dodge (as expected for some time) or as a special Chrysler brand.
Chrysler executives in the USA continue to say Chery is not ready for import in the United States but sales in Mexico are a definite. For border residents such as the Sinomania! staff that puts the Chinese minis in easy reach!
Labels: a1, automobiles, chery, chinese autos, chrysler, minicar
May 15, 2008
Will GE Turn Chinese?
The announcement that GE is hiring investment bankers for a possible sell of its appliance business has commenters buzzing that the Chinese may be interested suitors, specifically Haier which was thwarted in its bid for Maytag three years ago by a shamelessly xenophobic (and non business minded) US Congress. GE's appliance unit has a long and distinguished history as an early manufacturer of household appliances and former market leader but it's sales today - though substantial at over $7 billion annually - have fallen behind foreign brands in Germany and Asia (South Korea's LG, for example).
Labels: china, Chinese business, foreign investment, General Electic, Haier, investment
May 08, 2008
China, Japan Announce "Common Strategic Interests"
The first state visit by a Chinese President in a decade has led to a joint agreeement for "Consolidating Exchange and Cooperation Between Japan and China" including a possible end to disputes over the gas and oil riches under the East China Sea. Discussions between Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda today reveal the two sides may agree to jointly develop the gas and oil of Shirikaba gas field and other disupted areas.
Labels: china, fukuda, global security, hu jintao, japan, oil
April 24, 2008
Beijing Fixes Shanghai Flat
After months of hints and vague promises, Beijing came to the rescueof Chinese shares in a surprise announcement last night on national TV that the duty on stock trading would be reduced to just one tenth of one percent, repealing last May's increase that aimed at curbing short term speculation and reducing volatility. Volatility however is here to stay given high inflation and commodities values.
Values shot up across all boards with the Shanghai Composite gaining over 9% to close at 3,583. Many observers had claimed3,600 as a sustainable level with current earnings andperformance. As always, I'll update the markets on each episode ofThe Sinomania! Show.
Labels: bubble, chinese stocks, index, inflation, shanghai composite, shares
April 22, 2008
The Strategic Test of the An Yue Jiang
America appears to have won a round in the battle for southern Africa if, as Chinese foreign minstry spokesman Jiang Yu said today, the ship An Yue Jiang turns back without delivering its cargo --weapons for Zimbabwe's embattled ZANU regime headed by vilified strongman, Robert Mugabe.
Both Namibia and South Africa are firmly in Washington's control dating back at least to 2006 when then Deputy Commander of USEUCOM Gen. Charles "Chuck" Wald began plans for armed intervention if Zimbabwe crumbled. The situation is now more extreme as there is a disputed election and threat of a [insert color here] revolution for the USA to support or perhaps rescue.
Mugabe and the Zimbabwe African National Union regime are short of arms since their Chinese supplies can't get through. The vessel An Yue Jiang, said to be loaded with containers of bullets and grenades, is refused entry by every port in American control. Chinese influence in the region is lacking despite all the billions spent on investments and arms sales there.
What can we deduce? Even though southern Africa has less strategic value than many places the sea routes around the continent are vital to Chinese plans to import more oil not just from southern and eastern Africa but possibly South America (Venezuela, Brazil someday) as well. But the US Navy controls the area. The USS Ft. McHenry and HSV Swift were dispatched to the Gulf of Guinea in late 2007 and form part of a new "partnership" to control the region. Sea power still triumphs.
Labels: An Yue Jiang, arms, elections, freedom, great power, military, navy, oil, revolution, strategic, zimbabwe
Dollar v Yuan
An interesting discussion underway at Brad Stetsor's blog at the most excellent RGE Monitor website on the dollar's shrinking value and its ultimate impact on China centers on a hot editorial in the Shanghai Daily that says:
"The negative results of the US dollar's decline are evident: the rising prices
of all primary products, the intensified pressure on inflation globally, the confusion in the settlement of international transactions, etc. Worst of all, this is the US' disguised way of avoiding paying off its debts to foreign
countries."
The need for the dollar as the chief medium of exchange and unit of account in trade gives it an advantage that can't be matched at present. If the RMB Yuan matures, is fully convertible, and Chinese financial markets continue to advance the day may come when the Yuan may supplant the dollar. Morgan Stanley analysts still believe the most likely challenger to the dollar will be the Yuan or a currency unit centered on it.
Labels: china, currencies, dollar, foreign exhange, renminbi, yuan
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