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Let's talk about China

Sorry America, China has a bigger economy than you
FT. 12/12/2023 https://archive.is/SQnuk
Measures that show the opposite have absurd implications and dangerous policy prescriptions
A basic requirement for international comparisons is that domestic data and international data give similar results. This is why the economics profession invented purchasing power parity exchange rates, allowing (imperfect) comparisons to be made based on the goods and services that money can buy. This matters for economic size and even military power. Remember, China funds the People’s Liberation Army using renminbi. It does not source from the US.

Measured at PPP, the latest IMF data shows China’s GDP exceeded that in the US around the time Donald Trump was “making America great again”. It is now 22 per cent larger. The figures make sense when you look at corroborating evidence. China’s electricity generation, for example, overtook that in the US in 2010. And during the 2016-22 period when China’s economy was supposedly making no progress compared with the US, its generation grew 45 per cent, while it was broadly flat in America.
 
China's Xi calls for oil trade in yuan at Gulf summit in Riyadh
RIYADH, Dec 9 (Reuters)
Any move by Saudi Arabia to ditch the dollar in its oil trade would be a seismic political move, which Riyadh had previously threatened in the face of possible U.S. legislation exposing OPEC members to antitrust lawsuits.

China's growing influence in the Gulf has unnerved the United States. Deepening economic ties were touted during Xi's visit, where he was greeted with pomp and ceremony and on Friday met with Gulf states and attended a wider summit with leaders of Arab League countries spanning the Gulf, Levant and Africa.
 
This has been ramping up since the second year of the Trump administration. They're also "nearshoring" by moving production to countries like Mexico and Canada.
China, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea have invested billions of dollars in Mexico, "nearshoring" to avoid tariffs.

US concern over Mexico attracting Chinese electric vehicle factories
FT. 17/12/2023 https://archive.is/Zn0lb
Washington has raised concerns with Mexico over an imminent wave of Chinese investment into the country, as three of China’s largest electric-vehicle makers prepare to build factories south of the US border.
MG, BYD and Chery, known in Mexico as Chirey, have all been speaking to officials in Mexico to find sites this year, according to several people with knowledge of the talks. Another Chinese company is planning to build a $12bn battery plant, one person said.
The investment push, which could give producers in China a valuable foothold in the region, puts Latin America’s second-largest economy in the middle of the US-China trade war.
US officials have raised questions about Chinese investment more broadly in meetings with Mexican counterparts, three people said. Mexican officials acknowledged they had to be cautious when considering Chinese investments because of the risks of upsetting the US.
 
China, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea have invested billions of dollars in Mexico, "nearshoring" to avoid tariffs.

US concern over Mexico attracting Chinese electric vehicle factories
FT. 17/12/2023 https://archive.is/Zn0lb

Yes, China has been doing that. They've also been buying up American-based businesses and farmland. They seem to be specializing the agri-business and infrastructure related businesses. During the pandemic they incurred a lot of ire because they bought Smithfield, the largest meatpacking entity in the US. When there were supply chain problems, they exported most of their products to China and left bare shelves in the US. All of this while their US workers were dying from Covid. They've also been accused of creating an artificial shortage so they could raise prices. Some of this just could be perception, but there have been a number of investigations ongoing.

 

 
So Equilend didn't have an outage today....China having lost the equivalent of the Japan's economy over the last couple of years. Is desperately trying to prop things up. Did ban short selling yesterday. And is one of the most capable countries in terms of cyberwarfare. You can wait for forenisics but seems a pretty tidy Occums razor to me. Or are you still on the look out for flu carrying bats
 
So Equilend didn't have an outage today....China having lost the equivalent of the Japan's economy over the last couple of years. Is desperately trying to prop things up. Did ban short selling yesterday. And is one of the most capable countries in terms of cyberwarfare. You can wait for forenisics but seems a pretty tidy Occums razor to me. Or are you still on the look out for flu carrying bats
What i am looking out for is you stopping posting up links with absolutely no comment whatsoever and now latterly Zerohedge lol. Though I suspect I will continue to be disappointed.
 
So Equilend didn't have an outage today....China having lost the equivalent of the Japan's economy over the last couple of years. Is desperately trying to prop things up. Did ban short selling yesterday. And is one of the most capable countries in terms of cyberwarfare. You can wait for forenisics but seems a pretty tidy Occums razor to me. Or are you still on the look out for flu carrying bats
have you ever seen a broken clock?
 
have you ever seen a broken clock?
It's the same crunch....it doesn't happen overnight


Evergrande and what followed - one of the largest property bubbles to burst in history. This is second attempt at shore up. Burnt a fuck ton last time . It almost half its peak and burned anyone that's invested ithere n the last 5 years...


package-backed-by-278-billion

If it does work its a 2008 style inflate out of debt...Though that has headaches..ones coming I to focus here in the West. Like I said it doesn't happen overnight
 
Thought this was an interesting aspect of security concerns; China produced 80% of the gantry cranes in service at US ports, and given modern practice that means they have a welter of information about cargoes they handle: https://carnegieendowment.org/2024/...security-threat-chinese-made-cranes-pub-91843

On the surface it seems incredibly short sighted given that (as the article states)
More than 200 Chinese-manufactured cranes are operating in the United States today, but only ninety-two have been subjected to any security evaluation by U.S. officials. These cranes are sophisticated digital systems that handle sensitive data about containers and their contents, origins, and destinations. They integrate directly into port community platforms and other IT systems.
 
More opacity from Xi


China’s Li Qiang will become the first premier in three decades to not hold a press briefing at the annual parliamentary meetings, removing a rare platform for investors to learn more about the nation’s policy direction as President Xi Jinping consolidates control over the world’s second-largest economy.

The country’s No. 2 official won’t take questions at the close of the National People’s Congress for the rest of its five-year term apart from in “special circumstances,”
 
Since I have a long commute, I've been listening to farm reports (there's no other stations, ok?). One of the experts they had on suggested that China was gearing up to invade Taiwan because China was buying every bit of grain they could get their hands on. He figured that they are stockpiling consumables to make sure they can outlast any sanctions that are imposed when they invade. I have no idea if this is reliable or not. I did check to see if the Chinese have been buying a lot of grain and that does appear to be the case:

China snapped up more than 20 cargoes of feed grain on the international market in the past two weeks as the world's biggest importer took advantage of a decline in prices to the lowest level in more than three years.

The country secured shipments of corn, sorghum and barley from suppliers including Ukraine and the US, according to people familiar with the transactions. The purchases amount to over 1.2 million tons of grain on the basis of each cargo being 60,000 tons.

The buying spree came as prices climbed in China and benchmark corn futures dropped in Chicago to the lowest level since 2020, weighed down by ample supplies from top exporters Brazil and the US. The widening gap between the local and international markets made the purchases attractive.

The shipments included at least 10 cargoes of Ukrainian corn, mainly for delivery from March to May, at least five cargoes of US sorghum and six multi-origin barley shipments for similar delivery, the people said.


There's all kinds of rational reasons for buying grain, especially since the prices are down, but its worth a thought.
 
Since I have a long commute, I've been listening to farm reports (there's no other stations, ok?). One of the experts they had on suggested that China was gearing up to invade Taiwan because China was buying every bit of grain they could get their hands on. He figured that they are stockpiling consumables to make sure they can outlast any sanctions that are imposed when they invade. I have no idea if this is reliable or not. I did check to see if the Chinese have been buying a lot of grain and that does appear to be the case:




There's all kinds of rational reasons for buying grain, especially since the prices are down, but its worth a thought.


Some bad droughts last couple of years and extreme cold snap at mo
 
More fascist shit from one of the world's shittiest regimes

The last major mosque in China to have retained Arabic-style features has lost its domes and had its minarets radically modified, marking what experts say is the completion of a government campaign to sinicise the country’s Muslim places of worship.

 
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