Category: China

China PM in India: Economic / “Atmospherics” Progress, Political Stalemate

China and India set ambitious new economic targets on Thursday by pledging to nearly double their trade in the next five years to $100 billion annually.

But the two Asian giants appeared to make little progress on tough geopolitical differences over Pakistan, terrorism and their disputed border.

Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China, who is visiting India this week for the first time since 2005,

spoke warmly about Indo-Chinese relations and how the two nations could mutually prosper without encroaching upon each other.

EU Seeks Rare Earths Alternatives to China

The European Commission intends to propose pursuing more bilateral trade agreements and investing in infrastructure in Africa

hoping to break China’s dominance of the market for the strategic minerals.

The measures are outlined in a strategy paper for raw materials by the commissioner for industry and entrepreneurship, Antonio Tajani.

The paper states that Europe must step up its efforts to find new sources of the materials,

Love and Money in China

A spate of Chinese films, plays and television shows have recently raised the question: 

What is love in an age of breakneck economic growth? 

Many personal stories seem to confirm that the ideal mate is the one who can deliver a home and a car, among other things; sentiment is secondary.

However widespread this mercantilist spirit, not everyone thinks it is a good thing.

Shrewd China Move To Fight Inflation, “Currency Wars”

China’s central bank unexpectedly announced Friday night 

China Pushes Copper Prices Close To Record Highs

Copper is the single most important metal for a rapidly industrializing nation. 

The average single-family home uses 439 pounds of copper in construction, 

an air conditioner uses 52 pounds and a refrigerator uses 4.8 pounds. 

The average vehicle contains more than 50 pounds of copper stretching nearly a mile.

This year, copper has notched a spectacular rebound off its lows, 

and currently sits about 10 percent below its all-time high set in 2008.

China Bi-Partisan Villain in US Election, Complicating Relations

In these angry political times, Democrats and Republicans agree on next to nothing.

China is an exception.

Democrats and Republicans are accusing each other of cozying up to Beijing and backing policies

that send U.S. jobs and IOUs to the world’s second-largest economy.

Hot rhetoric in the closing days of the election has helped to fan protectionism sentiment in the U.S.,

Supercomputers: China Now # 1 There Too

A Chinese scientific research center has built the fastest supercomputer ever made,

replacing the United States as maker of the swiftest machine,

and giving China bragging rights as a technology superpower.

The computer, known as Tianhe-1A, has 1.4 times the horsepower of the current top computer, which is at a national laboratory in Tennessee,

as measured by the standard test used to gauge how well the systems handle mathematical calculations,

Japan Asks China To Resume “Rare Earth” Exports

The Japanese trade minister urged China on Sunday to restart exports of crucial minerals known as rare earths

that both traders and government officials say have been blocked for the past month amid a territorial dispute between the countries.

The trade minister, Akihiro Ohata, also quoted a top Chinese official as acknowledging that customs officials had stepped up inspections of all rare-earth shipments from China.

Global Leader in Patent Filings ??? Soon ALSO China

Having passed Germany (exports), Japan (gross domestic product) and the United States (auto sales) over the past year,

China is now poised to lead the world in yet another category: patent application filings.

A new study released this week by Thomson Reuters says that by 2011 China will likely pass the United States and Japan in new patent applications.

China Growth Enmeshes South America in “Commodities Supplier” Trap

Last month, Chile marked the bicentennial of its independence with pride in how far it has come in 200 years, but with a shadow over the celebration.

Unforgotten were 33 miners who have been trapped a half-mile underground by a shaft collapse for almost two months.

Copper mining has always helped to define Chile, and the country has united in its determination to save these men.