Powered by Will Chinese consumers rescue world economy? Story Highlights Multinational companies are betting on Chinese consumers to grow business China eclipsed the U.S. last quarter for auto sales Chinese economy still closely tied to export sales to the US Western companies face uphill battle to attract Chinese customers By Kevin Voigt CNN (CNN) -- When CEOs and professional investors in developed economies go to bed these days, some may pray for protection from markets in turmoil, share prices in the cellar and angry financial gods bringing fire and brimstone with every check of their Bloomberg terminal or the front pages of The Wall Street Journal. "Spend, China," they whisper. "Spend." The dream of China is the life preserver many multinational corporations are clinging to, not without some reason. The recent Shanghai Auto Show perhaps showed that like no other. More than half a million people attended, including 1,500 automotive manufacturers from around the world. Carmakers decided to use Shanghai as the launching point for 13 new models, most notably Porsche introduced its first four-door sedan, the Panamera, flanked by Chinese models and surrounded by a rapturous crowd of the world press. It's telling that such an important debut took place in China, rather than the company's home in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, where the German automotive industry is being buffeted by the high winds of the credit crisis. While the Big Three from Detroit are fighting for their lives, China has more than 100 domestic car makers competing with multinational carmaker to get a piece of the growing Chinese car market. For the first quarter of the year, 2.7 million cars were sold in China -- besting U.S. sales of 2.2 million for the first time to become the world's largest car market. Watch CNN's Emily Chang discuss China's burgeoning auto market » General Motors may be on the verge of filing for bankruptcy protection, but it has one bright spot on its balance sheets - China, where sales are expected to rise 17 percent this year, according to Kevin Wale, chief executive of GM China. While analysts predict global car sales WILL fall more than 8 percent this year, sales in China grew 10 percent in March, according to the Chinese government. "You have to be here, and you have to be here in a serious way," Dieter Zetsche, Daimler CEO, told CNN. Watch Daimler's CEO explain why China is a bright spot » The automobile industry's hopes for China are emblematic for nearly every industry in the world. A Nielsen consumer confidence index shows Chinese consumers are more optimistic than most consumers elsewhere, rating 89 points compared to the global average of 77. But all is not well in China. Before Lehman Brothers went belly up last September, an open question among financial academics was the issue of "decoupling"- the belief that developing markets such as China could absorb a drop in export business with increased domestic spending. But the ripple effect of Lehman's collapse created uncertainty -- growth in China is expected to drop to 6 percent this year from an average exceeding 10 percent in recent years, experts say. While that may sound enviable to Western companies, analysts say China needs 8 percent growth to maintain current employment levels. "For a while it seemed China was relatively immune to the impact of the credit crisis, then the collapse of Lehman Brothers showed it wasn't," said Joseph Zveglich, assistant chief economist at the Asian Development Bank. And even as Western companies clamor for the China market, it's an open question of whether Chinese consumers - be they nouveau riche or just emerging from poverty - are interested in foreign goods. But let's not forget the annual per capita income in China is just $1,000. "There is a misconception that Western companies are good at penetrating the Chinese market," said Frederic Neumann, a senior economist at HSBC. "We see a lot (of penetration) in the auto sector and top end of the luxury market, but if you look at broad Chinese consumption trends, Western companies don't have the cachet" of local Chinese brand names. "We see the top-end (consumer spending) weakening and consumption moving inland ... which suggests the best placed companies will be Chinese companies themselves, not Western multinationals," he said. CNN's Andrew Stevens, Emily Chang and John Vause contributed to this report. Links referenced within this article Watch CNN's Emily Chang discuss China's burgeoning auto market » #cnnSTCVideo Watch Daimler's CEO explain why China is a bright spot » #cnnSTCVideo Find this article at: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/BUSINESS/04/28/china.consumer/index.html?eref=edition_business Right. When it suits the West, the red carpet is being roll out to "encourage" Chinese in China to consume. But the West would then turn around and condemn China for producing shoddy goods, for paying their workers low wages, for taking away jobs from the west and accuse China of not being transparent in its Business dealings. IF China is sooooooooooooo soooooooooooooo pathetic and beyond any redemption and the market stinks for the west, then why is it then putting all it hopes on China so that the consumers there can spend in the hope that it will then pull the whole world out of the recession ?
More on the Western media and "beating up" on China 04 May 2009 06:01 pm Provoked in part by China's reaction to the world flu threat, a rich flow of responses about the country's sensitivity to outside criticism, its responsibilities as a major world power, the current state of its public morals, and the rest. In response to this recent message asking for greater Western "understanding" of China and saying that outsiders go much easier on Indian than on China, an eloquent reply from Xiaoxiao Huang: I am also an overseas Chinese, but I don't share the sentiment the Chinese reader has shown in his two messages to you. I'd like to share with you my opinion of his take on the role of the media, and China's human rights issue. I am always suspicious of the whole concept of a united "Western Media" against China as if Fox News, Le Monde, and Süddeutsche Zeitung were controlled by a multi-national Central Propaganda Department. As a Communications major, my understanding of the news media is that they should truthfully report and inform to the best of their knowledge. It is not the job of the Western media (or media of any origin) to "encourage" and babysit a foreign country. Maybe it's time that the Chinese try getting used to the fact that every Western country is "unique" as well, some of them believe in things that we do not believe, and it's OK. The reader suggest that the Western media "tolerate the minor human rights problems and individual sufferings". I'll bet that this reader's rights have never been violated before. Based on the message of the reader (that he was financially able to support himself to go to the West and has stay "several years" so far), my guesses are that he's from a comparatively well-heeded family; he lived in a secured environment when he was in China; and he's not even remotely close to anyone who had been beaten to death because of police brutality (or any other kind of human rights violation). It's very ironic to see such comment shortly after push-ups became suicide-inducive in Guizhou, and the game of "Eluding the Cat" became lethal in Yunnan. I wonder how many people have to die for ridiculous reasons before the reader could realize that the real problem is not that human rights issues are "minor" in China, but that they are too remote to have an impact on him. We're used to talk about what "the Chinese" think based on what we see on the Internet. A recent study by CNNIC shows that China has 300,000,000 netizens. A lot. But China also has a huge population of 1.3 billion. So those who can afford to access the Internet were less than a quarter of the population in the first place. And of those who do have access, the majority of them live in urban area, hence, in general much well-off than the rest of China (and pretty indifferent to the rest of China as well). Since China has a huge population, tightly controlled domestic media, and usually very successful propaganda schemes, it's very easy to be completely ignorant of the suffering of many fellow citizens and call a big issue "minor" simply because one is not personally affected by it. I see that the U.S has some human rights issues of her own. But no concerned American citizens would think that the "minor" problem of sexually abuse an Iraqi prisoner (not even a "fellow citizen"!) in Guantanamo is "tolerable". On the India analogy. India has two things that China desperately needs: democracy and transparency. It'll be very strange for the Western media to "misunderstand" China and be "hostile" toward her, if China happens to have either. From : http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/05/more_on_the_western_media_and.php This have always been the sub standard level of humanitarian values of the US and its bimbotic headed crackpot supporters who claims to care for ALL of humanity when it tolerates the killing of over a MILLION IRAQIS and would have the cheek to condemn china for human rights abuse at the same time. Bloody joke.
Mexico Angered Over China's Detention of Mexican Nationals Police officers wearing masks seal off Metro Park Hotel in Hong Kong, where first confirmed swine flu victim was staying on May 1, 2009. Mexico says Chinese authorities have quarantined more than 70 Mexican nationals, after a Mexican tourist in Hong Kong became the country's first confirmed case of the H1N1 swine flu virus. Mexican diplomats said Sunday that many of the Mexicans being held in "protective custody" were onboard a flight with the infected man who arrived in Hong Kong on Thursday from Mexico via Shanghai. Other Mexicans in quarantine in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong arrived on separate flights from North America. Ambassador Jorge Guajardo said other Mexicans appear to have been quarantined, in his words, "for the sole fact that they had a Mexican passport." Chinese officials on Sunday refused to allow Gaujardo access to a Beijing hotel where 10 Mexicans are being held in isolation. Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa said the involuntary detention of Mexican nationals free of symptoms is unjustified and discriminatory. She has also warned Mexicans against traveling to China. Chinese health officials say more than 100 passengers from the Mexican patient's flight have been placed in isolation in hotel rooms and other sites. China's Health Ministry said Sunday that none of the infected man's fellow passengers have shown any flu symptoms. China has canceled all flights between Mexico and Shanghai. Taiwan health officials on Sunday said 27 people who took the same flight as the Mexican patient have also been cleared of having the virus. In Hong Kong, authorities have quarantined for a week 200 guests and 100 staff of a hotel where the 25-year-old Mexican man stayed. Some of those at the hotel have expressed frustration over the quarantine. Some information for this report was provided by AFP. url: http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2009/05/04/2009050400642.html Copyright (c)2009 DIGITAL CHOSUN All rights reserved. Contact letters@chosun.com for more information. Privacy Statement Contact privacy@chosun.com Hello ? What about the Condemnation of Mexico for having spread this disease in the first place ? Why is the western world so sympathetic ? Have this flu been from China, HELL from all of the western media will break loose.
Chinese boats 'encounter' US ship in China Sea Tue, 05 May 2009 20:35:12 GMT Chinese fishing boats have had an encounter with a US Navy ship in the South China Sea. The Pentagon said on Tuesday that the Chinese fishing boats engaged in "dangerous" maneuvers near a US Navy ship in international waters off the coast of China on Friday . Spokesman Bryan Whitman confirmed that a pair of Chinese vessels had forced the US vessel into defensive measures. "It is unsafe and dangerous behavior and it needs to be addressed diplomatically," Whitman said. The Pentagon also claimed that the US Navy ship was conducting "routine operations" in international waters. In early March, the Pentagon said five Chinese ships harassed and maneuvered dangerously close to the unarmed USNS Impeccable as the ocean surveillance vessel was some 75 miles south of the Chinese island of Hainan, some 12,000 km (7,500 miles) from the US Pacific coast. The US claimed the incident took place in international waters after several days of increasingly aggressive acts by Chinese ships in the region. On March 13, the US Navy dispatched a guided missile destroyer to the China Sea after a tense naval standoff between the two countries. Chinese sources have said that the US Navy vessel had been consistently conducting illegal surveying in China's special economic zone. Washington has been keeping a close eye on China's military arsenal, including its expanding fleet of submarines, and the arrival of the destroyer underscored Washington's determination to continue the surveillance mission, despite Beijing's protestations. China says the United States' naval operations are illegal and in response has stepped up naval patrols in the South China Sea. JR/AAM/HGL Do the US need another Naval incident to boost its weakening economy ? Why the constant provocation ?
Printed from Canada threatens WTO complaint for China pork ban 5 May 2009, 1539 hrs IST, AGENCIES OTTAWA: The Canadian government has threatened to file a complaint with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) if China fails to lift a ban on pork from Alberta, where a herd of pigs tested positive for the H1N1 flu virus. "Should China continue on, of course there is the WTO challenge, which we would not hesitate to enact," Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz told the House of Commons yesterday. Beijing has put an import ban on pigs and pork products from Alberta in response to the virus being found in some 200 animals. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency insisted Canadian pork was still safe, and that the animals had likely contracted the disease from a Canadian who had recently returned from Mexico. "China is operating outside of sound science," Ritz insisted, noting that Beijing has received safety assurances from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). The WHO's representative in China said yesterday that the measure against Alberta pork was probably redundant, since the feared virus is not transmitted through pigs or pork products, but from human to human. Powered by Indiatimes About Us | Advertise with Us | Careers @ TIL | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Feedback | Sitemap Copyright © 2009 Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd. All rights reserved. For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service This site is best viewed with Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher; Firefox 2.0 or higher at a minimum screen resolution of 1024x768 Another example of the sheer double standards and viciousness of the West. The world did ban China's export of pork last year when there were issues of health concern about its produce. Now the tables are turned and they Came howling.
China changes visa rules for US citizens By TINI TRAN – 8 hours ago BEIJING (AP) — China has tightened visa rules for citizens from the United States, which has reported the second highest number of swine flu cases in the world. A notice dated May 3 on the Web site for the Chinese Embassy and its consulates in the U.S. said that all visa applications would now require six business days to process, with express and rush services for visa applications suspended until further notice. It is unclear exactly why the rules have been changed, but it came hot on the heels of strident measures by China to contain any possible spread of swine flu, including quarantining of some foreign nationals. The new visa regulation, effective as of May 4, appears to apply to all Chinese visas, including tourist and business categories. Visa applicants are also required to fill out a form declaring which countries and U.S. states they had visited two weeks prior. Previously, U.S. nationals could obtain visas in as little as one day. More than 1,400 people globally have been infected with swine flu, with Mexico reporting the most confirmed cases with 802. The United States so far has reported 380 cases in more than 30 states. On Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu refused to address the specific visa changes for Americans, saying only that "relevant adjustment (to the visa policy) is non-discriminatory and is not targeted at any country. The adjustment of visa policy will not affect the normal entry of foreigners and exchanges of people." The new rules do not appear to be in effect for any other country, including Spain or Canada, where swine flu has also been detected. China has already earned the ire of the Mexican government for its aggressive quarantine measures after a Mexican traveler flying to Hong Kong via Shanghai was diagnosed with the illness over the weekend. More than 70 Mexicans were quarantined in hotels and hospitals in mainland China. A plane chartered by the Mexican government arrived in several cities in China on Tuesday to pick up these and other Mexican citizens and take them home. China has denied singling out Mexicans, saying it was purely a medical matter and that it hoped Mexico would be "objective and calm." A group of 29 Canadian students and their professor were also being held in isolation in China. Two Americans were in isolation while another two who were in quarantine have been released. Last year, China severely tightened visa regulations ahead of the Olympic Games in August as part of a wider security clampdown, and earlier this month, travel agencies in Hong Kong reported that visa restrictions were being tightened again ahead of the 60th anniversary in October of the communist nation's founding. Last week, government spokeswoman Jiang Yu said the reports of changes to visa regulations were "groundless." Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Related articles Flu-hit Mexico waits to reopen after shutdown Hürriyet - 18 minutes ago China, Mexico send planes to airlift nationals home Straits Times - 51 minutes ago Mexican soccer remains behind closed doors The Associated Press - 55 minutes ago Mexico reports 866 confirmed A/H1N1 flu cases, including 26 deaths Xinhua - 58 minutes ago More coverage (2928) » Add News to your iGoogle Homepage What does the restriction of visa at such times of possible pandemic of the H1N1 virus have to be tied up with the clampdown of security during the Olympics have in common ? Its obvious that prejudice is at work here. Have China been slack in its response in meeting the H1N1 virus challenge, the whole world will accuse of it of being secretive and pathetically overly bureaucratic. Now that China have been proactive and on the ball, it is accuse of being overly cautious So what does the world want ? .
