The World Bank increased its 2010 forecast for the Chinese economy from 8.7% to 9.5%. The World Bank is on the right track but I think they aren’t giving China enough credit. I look for 10%-plus by the end of the year.
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The United States has more billionaires, 403 of them, than any country in the world. But there is a new #2 —- China.
China now has 64 billionaires, way up from the 28 it had in 2008.
The richest man in China is Zong Qinghou, who runs the multi-billion-dollar soft drink firm Wahaha Group. Zong is ranked 103rd on the list with an estimated wealth of around $7 billion.
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Volkswagen thinks it can overtake Toyota as the #1 producer of cars in the world. Sounds impossible, but VW does gigantic business in China. If you go to Beijing, the streets are jammed with VW taxis and BMWs can be found everywhere.
Volkswagen sold 1.1% more cars in 2009 than it did in 2008, but saw China sales jump by 37%.
Volkswagen is traded on the German XETRA exchange (VOW.DE) as well as the U.S. over-the-counter market (VLKAF.PK).
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Soybeans. Who gives a snot about soybeans? Anybody that uses a lot of soy sauce and eats a lot tofu does.
The price of soybeans dropped sharply on the news that China canceled some its contracts to buy American soybeans. China canceled its purchase of 192,400 tonnes of U.S. soybeans set for shipment for this year.
Hmmm. I wonder if this has any connection to the U.S. State Department calling the Chinese government some pretty ugly names?
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Yeah, the Obama administration is scoring lots of brownie points with the Chinese.
The U.S. State Department accused China of escalating human rights abuses. “The detention and harassment of human rights activists increased, and public interest lawyers and law firms that took on cases deemed sensitive by the government faced harassment, disbarment and closure,” said a State Department report.
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Some China critics have cited the wide disparity between the coastal urban cites and the rural interior areas. The per capita income of the average urban residents is now 17175 yuan, versus 5153 yuan equivalent for rural residents. That 5153 yuan translate into roughly US$775.
So the Chinese city slickers make 3.3 times more money than the rural country folk. That doesn’t sound like a problem to me. Do you think that the average LA or NY or Chicago resident makes 3.3 times more money than somebody in Lubbock or Des Moines or Boise? Wouldn’t surprise me one bit if they did.
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China Shuangji Cement (CSGJ.OB) said its expect strong demand in 2010 and beyond for cement.
“Analysts are estimating that China’s overall demand for cement in 2010 will rise by almost 12%, about 188 million tons from 2009 levels.”
What do you think that means for Anhui Conch Cement that ASA subscribers own?
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Coca Cola CEO Muhtar Kent says that Southeast Asia, lead by India and China, is roaring back from the global recession.
“The emerging world is in a healthier situation as we are exiting the tunnel,” said Kent.
And he warned that Japan, the U.S., and western Europe were not going to rebound any time soon.
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First of all, Twitter is banned in China but some company is certain to fill that void.
That company is Sina.com, which uses a combination of celebrities (actors, musicians, models) and well-known business leaders to author blogs. Those blogs are wildly popular and earnings at Sina are booming.
Sina.com is China’s largest internet portal, comparable to Yahoo or MSN, and it reported an 8% jump in revenues to $93 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. More importantly, that increase in online advertising revenue is a good sign that the Chinese economy is healthy and growing.
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China unveiled their military budget for 2010 it is a staggering $78 BILLION. China has increased its defense spending by an average of 10% a year for the last decade.
That sounds like a lot of money (and it is) but it is dwarfed by the $636 billion the U.S. will spend this year. Nonetheless, China has the second largest military budget in the world.
The U.S. spends 3.5% of its GDP on defense, China will spend 1.8%.
You know what? China can pay cash for its military needs. The U.S. needs to borrow like crazy to finance our spending.
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