“The Russians are the best chess players in the world; they think long-term and strategically. They invest in partners who can help them develop their industries at home.

Americans look for a quick return.

The Chinese hide their imperial thinking behind a mask of confucian peacemaking.”

- Joachim Schroeder-Hohenwarth, Vontobel

Post from: EveryJoe

Quote of the Day (Foreign Direct Investment)

China has already “left us behind in the dust” when it comes to the emission of carbon-dioxide. According to USA Today, China is now responsible for 24% of the worldwide CO2 emissions, easily passing the US which is ranked at “only” 21%.

The polluters list:

1. China: 24%
2. USA: 21%
3. Europe (EU-15): 12%
4. India: 8%
5. Russia: 6%

Of course, China also has about four times as many citizens as the US, so the per capita pollution rate is actually much lower. Still, the metric is an interesting one. In general, US citizens use about twice the amount of energy as Europeans and this is reflected here. (See also my post on energy saving.)

Looks like China is heading for more smoggy weather. Does pollution bring prosperity?

Post from: EveryJoe

China takes the Gold in CO2 Emissions

Source: Süddeutsche Zeitung

My previous post about Tata.

See also Nano on Wiki.

Post from: EveryJoe

Big Protests over Tata’s Little Nano

Speaking of Lenovo, they also have a few blogs themselves. One of them is called “Worldsourcing” and is written by the Lenovo VP for Corporate Communications, Reid Walker. The subject is the “decentralization of the world’s economy and talent”, a topic I often look at and post about here.

Post from: EveryJoe

Olympic Advertising

Pallavi Aiyer moved from India to Beijing to be an English teacher in China (and to be with her boyfriend). Her memoir “Smoke and Mirrors: An Experience of China” thus includes many comparisons between her native country and her new country of residence. Combined, the two are refered to as “Chindia”.

Aiyer’s experiences as a teacher of English to Chinese journalism students and her travels to different parts of the country provide for fascinating insights into the modern Chinese culture. Almost all of the millions of students in China today are only-children who, compared with their parents, have obtained great material wealth. They define freedom as being able to dress how they want, date whom they want and buy a new car and apartment. When Aiyer pushes them on controversial subjects, the students glibly recite the government line as if it were their own free thoughts.

Aiyer is able to look at the shiny new China without being blinded by the smoke and mirrors.

Image from uscc.gov. Shanghai highways.

Post from: EveryJoe

Book Review: Smoke and Mirrors (An Experience of China)

In case the TV studios shy away from anything more “political” (meaning anything which might be seen as controversial), today I will look at two new books on China which have made my reading list.

“The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom” by Simon Winchester portrays Joseph Needham (1900-1995) a British scientist and Sinologist who formulated the “Needham question:” Why did the country fail to industrialize when Europe did, despite its prior achievements. Needham pursued this question most of his life and predicted a grand future for China based on its past successes. The book is a good introduction into Chinese history as well as a portrait of an eccentric researcher.

Image from memory.loc.gov

Post from: EveryJoe

Book Review: The Man Who Loved China

Raise your hands – how many people out there use an IBM ThinkPad? And how many more have used it in the past? The ThinkPad is one of the most popular brands in computer laptops, but how many people know the name of the Chinese company who has been making and selling the “IBM ThinkPad” since 2005?

The company’s name is Lenovo and if you plan on watching any of the Olympics this summer, you will be seeing their name more often, as they are the only Chinese company with worldwide sponsorship of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

I remember reading that the IBM laptop business was up for sale in 2005 and that a Chinese company had bought it. Back then I asked myself “How long will it take an unknown brand to drive sales of the most popular laptop into the ground?” (This is exactly what happened when BenQ purchased the successful Siemens cell phone business a few years back.)

But Lenovo was smarter than BenQ. Lenovo kept their name in the background and continue to sell the laptop as the “IBM ThinkPad”. I bet lots of people purchased the ThinkPad under the assumption that it was still an IBM product. It’s amazing what they hide in the small print these days.

Now, Lenovo is increasing its marketing at the Olympics this year. Oh, but they won’t mention that they are a Chinese company. We might get the wrong impression and think that their products are cheap.

Do you have a ThinkPad? Have you heard of Lenovo before?

Image from ct.gov

Post from: EveryJoe

How Do You Say “ThinkPad” in Chinese?

A number of countries which subsidize the price of gasoline (among other essentials) can no longer take the pain of the rising price of oil and are raising prices at the pump. This past week, India joined Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Malaysia when it raised prices at the pump 10%, up to about $4.80 per gallon.

Blockades and protests closed down many big cities in India; analysts expect this to be the straw which breaks the camel’s back for the ruling Congress Party, as their popularity was already decreasing.

It’s the economy, stupid. People vote with their pocketbooks.

That said, I guess I’ll make a prediction on the outcome of the US presidential election this year: The ruling party can’t win when the economy is verging on recession and the price of gas has skyrocketed. Well, unless you have Karl Rove on your campaign. (He did “retire” or otherwise get removed from power, didn’t he?)

Oops, sorry, this is a business blog, not a political one…

Image from gov.il.gov 

Post from: EveryJoe

Gas Prices and Elections

In the US, it used to be “Soccer Moms” driving their kids from one after-school event to another. Japanese “Education Moms” are dedicated to making sure their offspring get into the best schools. But Chinese parents are now taking the cake – 92 per cent want their children to earn a college diploma – and they are investing early in pre-school programs ranging from piano lessons, English classes and “Early MBA” sessions to make sure it happens. Studies show that 60 per cent of urban Chinese families spend one-third of their income for their children’s education.

In Shanghai alone, 3000 pre-school children are enrolled in “Early MBA” programs, a two-year evening course aimed at improving Junior’s leadership, discussion and presentation skills while teaching subjects such as business, science and English.

If you think Chinese athletes will be in good form at this year’s Olympics, just wait until the next generation of Chinese graduates hit the the global marketplace.

How long will it take before the Chinese are outsourcing labor to Western countries?

Reference: Sueddeutsche Zeitung, 24./25. May 2008

A bit more info in English here.

Image from idl.idaho.gov. 

Post from: EveryJoe

Chinese “MBAs” Start Early

Quick follow-up on a previous post about the price of gasoline in several countries around the world. There are two reasons why prices at the pump for this commodity vary so greatly around the world: taxes and subsidies.

In a post from January 2008, Pablo at www.triplepundit.com asks,  What is the True Cost of Gasoline?  The data from 2005 he looks at show that the US government subsidizes gasoline at the pump by over 100%; that is, the “true” price of gasoline in 2005 (not including costs to the environment) would have been over $5.00 a gallon without subsidies.

Other countries, including China, Venezuela and Saudia Arabia also provide significant subsidies on gasoline. In fact, China subsidizes almost all “essentials”, including water, electricity, coal and fertilizer for farming.

On the plus side for China, the country recently adopted gas mileage standards which are higher than the CAFE standards in the US. With a population of 1.3 billion, China “only” has 35 million cars on the road (compare to 120 million vehicles in US with population of 300 million), but the number of vehicles in China is growing quickly – estimates put the total number up to 120 million in about 10 years. Hopefully, China will increase fuel efficiency standards faster than the US has done.

But as Chris pointed out last week, the car with the best mileage is the one which is not driven.

I wonder what the price of gas is in Iceland?

Image from inglis.house.gov

Post from: EveryJoe

Gasoline Subsidies