Chinese Currency

Chinese currency - different names

Chinese Lesson

Moon Festival

Mid-Autumn Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a Chinese holiday.  Celebrated for 2,000 years, it has evolved from worshiping the moon to a time of family reunion.  The autumnal equinox is when the moon is at its fullest. Traditions for celebrating the holiday vary among regions, but the moon plays a starring role. Sharing mooncakes with family and friends is an important part of the festival.
Moon Festival Video

 Mid-Autumn Festival Information

  Mooncake costs rise
Mooncake packaging

 

China Labor Strikes

Factory workers in China have recently been striking for better pay. The biggest question is, "will these strikes have influences on prices in the United States?" The answer is YES! " Domestically,... it marks a long overdue shift in economic policy and means that China is now entering the middle stages of economic development."

"For years, China’s modus operandi was keep labor costs and comparative wages exceptionally low, so as to make it lucrative and attractive for foreign companies, and their foreign direct investment, to enter the mainland and set up shop. This was also contingent upon keeping the renminbi artificially deflated in value, so European and US purchasing power could by more Chinese goods. However, anyone with a background in economics will tell you that comparative advantage, i.e. the cheapness of creating/producing goods from one country to another, changes over time as costs of living, labor, capital and investment rise with quality of living. Odds are much of the cheap, low-end production goods that China has dominated over the last decade (textiles, plastics, toys), will move to a country like Vietnam, where labor costs are still exceptionally low. That being said, the rise in labor wages (which is expected to nearly double from 1,000 to 2,000 renminbi) following these strikes, is very telling about where China is economically–and more importantly–developmentally"

Another important topic to discuss that is related to these strikes is how the production along coastal areas is reaching a so called "middle-end-production" stage. This meaning that a lot of work could be shifted inland where "low-end-production" still exists. It was quite noticeable that the coastal areas of China have been booming and inland China is still struggling, so these current labor conflicts in coastal areas may actually end up helping inland China. Some suggest that we will begin to see development moving west to east, instead of the tradition north-south along the coast.

Three Gorges Dam

In 1994, work started on the Three Gorges Dam across the Yangtze River. Still a year away from full operation, it is the world's largest energy plant, spanning 1.5 miles across, and holding a 400 mile reservoir behind it (7 times the size of Washington DC). However, there have been issues with relocation. Estimated to wipe out 13 cities, 140 towns, and relocate around 2 million people, the government has been slow and unresponsive to many residents in terms of payback and helping relocate. As well, reports predict future problems with landslides and river bank collapses, which will continue to cause citizen relocation.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/yangtze/yangtze.htm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/22/wave-tidal-hydropower-water

Rights in China

China's Constitution, last created in 1982, is much more restrictive than the US Constitution, and has no enforcement. The judicial system does not have the power of judiciary review, leaving the practice of these rights open to the interpretation of the government at any time:

• Right to free speech
• Freedom of the press
• Freedom of religion
• Suffrage
• Right to fair trial
• Property Rights

Tibet

In 1950, when Mao Zedong took power over newly Communist China, he decided to flex his authority by taking over Tibet, confiscating the Dalai Lama's military weapons. In 1959, a rebellion uprising in Tibet started to oppose the oppression that ultimately led to around 85,000 deaths. In the 1960s, over 6,000 monasteries were destroyed. In 2008, riots broke out and caused the deployment of 4,000 Chinese troops, which ultimately used violence to quell the protests.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/country_profiles/4152353.stm

Tiananmen Square Protests

Tiananmen Square Protests

In 1989, one hundred thousand student protestors gathered in Tiananman Square to oppose the Communist government, after neglecting a political rival's funeral. To oppose the dissidents, the government imposed martial law, and ultimately killed an estimated 3,700 people.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/4/newsid_2496000/2496277.stm

China's GDP Surpasses Japan

In the second quarter of 2010, China's GDP was higher than the GDP of Japan. With the pass of Japan, China will be the second largest economy for the second quarter. Japan's GDP for the second quarter was $1.29 trillion while China came in at $1.34 trillion. While China has yet to surpass Japan in the annual GDP, it is possible that this year it would happen. There is also an estimate in this article that China GDP will possibly surpass that of the United States by 2027.

Also, check out this video from The Wall Street Journal that discusses the pass of Japan's GDP by China.



http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-08-16/china-gdp-surpasses-japan-capping-three-decade-rise.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703382304575430602975014496.html (Video Regarding China passing Japan in GDP in 2 quarter)

China looks to improve technological innovation and design of ship building

China has recently passed South Korea to become the world's biggest shipbuilder. In recent figures, China has produced about 41% of the world's ships and received about 46% of orders in the ship building market.


This is a chart showing the global market share and ranking of China's shipbuilding industry. The chart shows that China's market share of shipbuilding is increasing almost every year.

China's shipyards produced 22.7 Million dead weight tons in just the first half of this year. While South Korea only delivered 18.3 dead weight tons.

While China is doing a lot of ship building, they lack in the technological innovation in which South Korea and Japan excel in. According to Zhang Shengkun, the president of Shanghai Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, China needs to become more advanced in design and technological innovations and stop copying the design of others. He also says that China is behind by about 10 years in design ability and 7 years behind in manufacturing and management. They lag behind the United States, Japan and South Korea. Since the standards for shipbuilding is changing to reduce pollution, China needs to set the trend of shipbuilding instead of being a follower.



http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2010-09/09/content_11281339.htm
http://www.researchinchina.com/Report/Construction/4669.html (Chart)

Future Inventions: The Straddling Bus!

Public transit in a metropolitan area is all about balance; if there aren't enough public transit options, too many people choose to drive, clogging roadways and adding to pollution. But trains are expensive (and, if above-ground, contributors to traffic) and adding more buses to the road can magnify traffic woes further. Enter the 3D Fast Bus, a futuristic concept vehicle that carries passengers above street level, straddling the lanes below so traffic can pass freely underneath.
Chinese company Shenzhen Hashi Future Parking Equipment Co. came up with the idea, which is more like a massive double-wide tram than a bus, with a fixed route and physical connection to the city's municipal power grid. Running on solar power gathered from its rooftop supplemented with grid energy, the "Fast Bus" is expected to top out just shy of 40 miles per hour, so it's not ideal for long treks. But for intra-city travel in large, dense metropolises like those common in urban China, the 1,200-passenger 3D Fast Bus could be a feasible solution, far-fetched though it may seem.

The vehicle is wide, straddling two lanes at a time, letting traffic pass underneath both when it is stopped and when it is in motion. It's clearly best suited to long, straight stretches of roadway, but the bus can turn and is equipped with signals underneath that give cars traveling there ample warning that a turn is approaching. Radar scanners will alert drivers passing underneath if they wander to close to the bus's wheels, and a similar system would warn traffic approaching from behind if a vehicle too tall to clear the bus's belly.
Sound like one of those cool-but-too-crazy-to-work kind of transit schemes? Beijing has already mapped out 116 miles of its Mentougou District as a test bed for the 3D Fast Bus. Construction to install the proper infrastructure should begin by year's end.

Text copied from: http://www.chinahush.com/2010/07/31/straddling-bus-a-cheaper-greener-and-faster-alternative-to-commute/

Not-So-Ancient Inventions

Although the Chinese are known for countless ancient inventions, including "the four" inventions of gunpowder, paper-making, printing, and the compass, their creativity has not died out. The Chinese are continuing to develop new technologies and advances in the science world. Noted in the hyperlinked article below are four modern Chinese achievements: hybrid rice, photocomposition for Chinese character typesetting, synthesis of bovine insulin, and the compound artemether.

Read the whole article! http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-02/10/content_806437.htm

History of Modern China

Republican China (1911-1949)

During WWI

The Chinese Government sided with the Allies in exchange that the German concessions in Shangdong province would be handed over to them. The Treaty of Versailles ended up handing the province over to Japan.

May 4, 1919

Over 3000 students from various Beijing universities got together and protested the Treaty of Versailles. This was the first mass protest in China's history and is called the May 4th Movement.

Early 1920's

Dr. Sun Yatsen who was the leader of the Nationalist Party accepted Soviet aid and forged an alliance with the Chinese Communist Party

1925

Dr. Sun Yatsen died of cancer. Chiang Kaishek then took over the Nationalist Party. Using the communists he launched his Northern Expedition. He used the communists to strike the different cities and once he had united all of Southern China and gained control of the Lower Yangzi he betrayed them.

The Long March

After the betrayal by Chiang, the Chinese Communist Party was forced to abandon their bases and were on the run for a year. One of the individuals on the run during this time was Mao Zedong. At the beginning they started out with about 100,000 people and by the end of the year they had traveled over 6,000 miles and had 4,000-8,000 people left.

1937-1945

In July of 1937 Japan launches an all-out aggression against China. By the time the war had ended in 1945, the Nationalist government had fled from Nanjing to Chongquing. During this time the Chinese Communist Party were consolidating their power and the Nationalist Party was becoming more corrupt and in Debt.

October 1949

The Nationalist Party flees to Taiwan and Mao Zedong proclaims the creation of the People's Republic of China.

Mao Zedong

People's Republic of China (1949-present)

1950

China intervenes in the Korean War and to save North Korea.

1958

Mao Zedong launches the Great Leap Forward. This was an attempt to increase crop production and mobilize the peasant masses by collectivizing the farms and using the excess labor to produce steel. This ended up creating the greates man-made famine in human history and between 1958 and 1960 over 30 million people starved to death.

1962

China completely breaks away from the Soviets and positions itself to take its place as a global leader.

1966-1976 The Cultural Revolution

In 1966 Mao Zedong launches the Cultural Revolution. He calls for the students to rebel against authority and form units of Red Guards. Schools shut down during this time and transportation was disrupted.

1976

Upon Mao Zedong's death the politically charged atmosphere that was created during the Cultural Revolution slows down and Deng Xiaoping emerges as the paramount leader in 1978.

1978

Deng Xiaoping Launches his economic reform program. Originally targeting agriculture it quickly spreads throughout the rest of the country.

1989

As the economic reforms spread, the question of political reforms begin. June 4,1989, over 400 unarmed protestors against the Communist Party were killed at Tiananmen Square. For three years after this incident progress and reform in China would stop.

Sources:

http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/MODCHINA/COMM.HTM

http://shen-nong.com/eng/history/modern.html

https://www.modernhistoryofchina.com

http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/china/pro-history.htm

http://condensedchina.com/china4.html#KMT

http://www.ibiblio.org/chinesehistory/contents/01his/c05s03.html

Also Made in China

Silk
Silk originated in China and is told to have been discovered by the Yellow Emperor's consort, Hsi Leng Shih in 3,000 BC. While sitting under a mulberry tree, a silkworm coccoon fell into her cup of tea, causing the silk thread to unravel from around the worm. This empreess then began raising silkworms and invented the loom. Recent archeological evidence contradicts this story with findings dating back as far as 7,000 BC.
At first, only royalty were allowed to wear silk, and favorite colors were white and yellow. Eventually, silk was introduced to commoners and to other countries and became a vital part of the Chinese economy.

info gathered from: http://www.whoinventedit.net/who-invented-silk.html

Paper Money
Paper money was not used in the west until the 17th century, but was institutionalized as a government policy in China in the Song dynasty, (960-1279 AD). This would not have been possible at all without the invention of printing. Because of paper currency, people could save metals such as copper and zinc for making useful items and carry less weight in their pockets.
The Chinese learned important lessons as the first civilization to use paper currency. The government and citizens had to deal with problems such as inflation, counterfeiting, and depreciation.

info gathered from: http://www.silk-road.com/artl/papermoney.shtml

Useless Diploma

The job market for university graduates in China has become stagnate. Up to one third of last year's 5.6 million university graduates are still looking for work while another 6.1 million students are set to graduate this year. The problem started back in the early 90's when the government ordered universities to expand in order to handle to growing number of students attending universities. The universities were told to borrow money from banks. The banks obliged due to the fact they were government owned. Having only two possible ways to pay back the debt, schools began to cut teachers salaries and materials were not ordered and some of the materials they had were sold. After they cut the cost, the classrooms were packed with students to increase the amount of money brought in by tuition. The problem then became that the students out numbered textbooks and materials. Universities became degree mills turning out diplomas just to get more money from students. Many universities remain in debt with no light at the end of the tunnel. Prior to the government bailing out one university, the annual interest payment was $60 million while the tuition received was only $30 million. Now it doesn’t take an accounting major to see that the balance sheet will be in the red. Until China is able to rectify this problem they will continue to have an increasing unemployment rate and many citizens with useless degrees.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124087181303261033.html#project%3DCUNIVERSITY%26articleTabs%3Darticle

Four Great Inventions of Ancient China

Gunpowder

The invention of gunpowder occurred in the Tang Dynasty, sometime between 600 and 800 AD. As knowledge of chemistry increased, Chinese scientists attempted to produce an elixir of immortality. In the process, they stumbled upon an explosive mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter, which was then developed into gunpowder.

Gunpowder was first used in fireworks, but during the Song and Yuan dynasties (960-1368) it became common in military use.

Printing

Block Printing first appeared in the Tang dynasty. In this form of printing, entire pages of text were carved at once into blocks of wood that were used as stamps to reproduce books. However, this process was time-consuming and took a lot of materials, as a new block had to be carved for every page in a book.

Bi Sheng invented moveable type during the Song dynasty, using individual clay blocks each with one character per block. By the year 1000 paged books had replaced scrolls, and by the 1440’s Gutenberg had invented moveable type made of metal.

Paper

Paper first appeared in the Western Han dynasty (206 BC-23 AD), but it was very thick and coarse in texture. The earliest existing piece of paper was found in a Han tomb in Gansu Province and dates back to this time period.

Papermaking became an art, which spread to Korea and Japan first, followed by the Arab countries via the Silk Road. Finally, the art was brought to Europe, where, in the fourteenth century it was milled in Italy as an export.

Compass

The Chinese invented the compass during the Warring States Period (206 BC-23AD). The first compass was made using naturally magnetic substance called lodestone. The spoon in the middle of the compass is made of lodestone, and functions as a compass because the spoon’s handle always points to the south.

Later, during the Tang and Song dynasties, the Chinese began to magnetize iron needles, which could then be floated on water, the way modern compasses work.

information gathered from: ChinaCulture.org

The Opium Wars

Opium Wars

Unil the 18th century, opium use in China had consisted mostly of medicinal purposes. By the early 1800s, however, millions of Chinese had become addicted, and the illegal drug thrived through black market trade

The main purveyors of opium were the British, though merchants from the United States and other European countries also participated in the trade. One chest of opium contained around 135 pounds of the substance, and the importation of chests grew from 5,000 in 1821 to 35,000 in 1837.

Captain Charles Elliot, the British chief superintendent of trade in Canton, put pressure on the Chinese government to legalize the opium trade. Meanwhile, the fatality rate caused the Emperor of China to appoint an official to oversee deaths.

Commissioner Lin Zexu had battled the problem of drug use in the provinces of Hubei and Hunan, and he now attempted to eliminate opium. He blockaded the foreign community, stopped trade, ordered Chinese servants to leave, arrested a leading foreign dealer, and demanded that the merchants surrender their inventory of opium.

After 47 days, Captain Elliot handed over 20,283 chests to Lin, who destroyed them. In a 1839 letter to Queen Victoria, Lin made the assumption that the British government was not involved in the opium trade, and pointed out that it would be in the best interests of both nations to stop. The letter never reached England, and the messenger was murdered by sailors.

In the war that followed, the Chinese could not match the technological and tactical

superiority of the British forces. In 1842 China agreed to the provisions of the Treaty of Nanking. Hong Kong was ceded to Great Britain, and other ports, including Canton, were opened to British residence and trade. It would be a mistake to view the conflict between the two countries simply as a matter of drug control; it was instead the acting out of deep cultural conflicts between east and west.

The French and Americans approached the Chinese after the Nanking Treaty's, and in 1844 gained the same trading rights as the British. The advantages granted the three nations by the Chinese set a precedent that would dominate China's relations with the world for the next century. The "most favored nation" treatment came to be extended so far that China's right to rule in its own territory was limited. This began the period referred to by the Chinese as the time of unequal treaties - a time of unprecedented degradation for China. The humiliation the Central Kingdom suffered is still remembered and strongly affects important aspects of its foreign policy. Meanwhile, the opium trade continued to thrive.

The British and French again defeated China in a second opium war in 1856. By the terms of the Treaty of Tientsin (1858) the Chinese opened new ports to trading and allowed foreigners with passports to travel in the interior. Christians gained the right to spread their faith and hold property, thus opening up another means of western penetration. The United States and Russia gained the same privileges in separate treaties.

The Silk Route

The Legend…

It is well known that silk is discovered in China as one of the best materials for clothing - it has a look and feeling of richness that no other materials can match. However, very few people know when or where or how it is discovered. Actually, it could date back to the 30th Century BC when Huang Di (Yellow Emperor) came into power. There are many legends about the discovery of silk; some of them are both romantic and mysterious.

Legend has it that once there lived a father with his daughter, they had a magic horse, which could not only fly in the sky but also understand human language. One day, the father went out on business and did not come back for quite some time. The daughter made him a promise: If the horse could find her father, she would marry him. Finally her father came back with the horse, but he was shocked at his daughter's promise.

Unwilling to let his daughter marry a horse, he killed the innocent horse. And then miracle happened! The horse's skin carried the girl flying away. They flew and flew, at last, they stopped on a tree, and the moment the girl touched the tree, she turned into a silkworm. Everyday, she spit long and thin silks. The silks just represented her feeling of missing him.

The History

The ancient Silk Road contributed greatly to the cultural exchange between China and the West. From the second century BC to the fifteenth century AD, splendid civilizations among China, India, Greece, Persia and Rome were exchanged along this famous trade route, making the route a great "Cultural Bridge" between Asia and Europe.

The Silk Road is the most well known trading route of ancient Chinese civilization. Trade in silk grew under the Han Dynasty (202 BC - AD 220) in the first and second centuries AD

Originally, the Chinese trade silk internally, within the empire. Caravans from the empire's interior would carry silk to the western edges of the region. Often small Central Asian tribes would attack these caravans hoping to capture the traders' valuable commodities. As a result, the Han Dynasty extended its military defenses further into Central Asia from 135 to 90 BC in order to protect these caravans.

The 7000 mile route spanned China, Central Asia, Northern India, and the Parthian and Roman Empires. It connected the Yellow River Valley to the Mediterranean Sea and passed through places such as Chinese cities Kansu and Sinkiang and present-day countries Iran, Iraq and Syria.

By 760 AD, during the T'ang Dynasty, trade along the Silk Road had declined. It revived tremendously under the Sung Dynasty in the eleventh and twelfth centuries when China became largely dependent on its silk trade. In addition, trade to Central and Western Asia as well as Europe recovered for a period of time from 1276-1368 under the Yuan Dynasty when the Mongols controlled China. The Chinese traded silk for medicines, perfumes, and slaves in addition to precious stones. As overland trade became increasingly dangerous, and overseas trade became more popular, trade along the Silk Road declined. While the Chinese did maintain a silk-fur trade with the Russians north of the original Silk Route, by the end of the fourteenth century, trade and travel along the road had decreased.

China Fortifies State Businesses to Fuel Growth

The ongoing debate of state versus private control in China is a slippery one. For decades, China was controlled by economic reform, but now, many large state-owned companies are facing strong competition and are still expected to operate profitably. Many of the largest private companies receive financing from state banks, coordinate their investments with the government and seat their chief executives on government advisory panels. Chinese leaders also no longer publicly emphasize sharp ideological distinctions about ownership. But they never relaxed state control over some sectors considered strategically vital, including finance, defense, energy, telecommunications, railways and ports which are still tightly controlled. China saw rapid economic growth when it allowed private entrepreneurs to prosper in recent decades, but this had an inverse effect on the state sector of the economy. However, China's most recent growth can be found in state run industries due to an increase in government spending during the financial crisis.

The second link is a report published by the World Bank. It shows that the proportion of industrial production companies controlled by the Chinese state edged up last year, checking a slow but seemingly inevitable eclipse. Moreover, investment by state-controlled companies skyrocketed as China surpassed Japan as the world's second largest economy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/30/world/asia/30china.html?_r=2

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/CHINAEXTN/Resources/3189491268688634523/Quarterly_June_2010.pdf

Guanxi in China

The value of "Guanxi" in China influenced every person in this nation. In China, guanxi refers to a vast network of connections arising from party, family and work cennections that may go back several generations. No guanxi network relies ona single individual. Foreigners almost always rely on only one or two individuals for their supposed connection. This kind of network is too fragile to be of enduring value. In the China business environment, foreign investors who think they have created a guaxi network in China are usually simply deluding themselves.

Many foreign investors do not realize that goverment officals in China are regularly moved from offce to office and from region to region. As a result, the connection with a local offcial is unlikly to be a long-term connection. So it is quite common to negotiate a project for several years and then learm that the offcial in charge has been transferred to a new post. Where the project is not in compliance with the law, their replacements will often refuse to sign the documents that have already been negotiated.

In many cases, the provider of guanxi will make use of the fact that the project is not in compliance with the law to ask for addtional benefits. Since the foreign side has no legal resourse, the foreign side must acced to what is in effect a blackmail request or risk to cooapse of the project. When the foreign investor comes to a lwyer to help, there is nothing that can be done, since the project itself is either illegal or poorly documented.

Guanxi is a very beneficial course to learn for foreigners who attend business in China. However, there is also a boundary of between ethical and unethical. Guanxi has linked many offcials in China to jail by corruption.

Link: http://www.chinalawblog.com/2008/02/guanxi_in_china_fugetaboutit.html
Link: http://www.chinasuccessstories.com/2007/08/22/scientific-study-on-guanxi-in-business/

Geography: Agriculture

Agriculture is an important economic sector of China, employing over 300 million farmers. China ranks first in worldwide farm output, primarily producing rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton, oilseed, pork, and fish. About 75% of China's cultivated area is used for food crops. Rice is China's most important crop, raised on about 25% of the cultivated area. The majority of rice is grown south of the Huai River in the Yangtze valley, the Zhu Jiang delta, and in Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan provinces.

Although China's agricultural output is the largest in the world, only about 15% of its total land area can be cultivated. China's arable land, which represents 10% of the total arable land in the world, supports over 20% of the world's population. Of this approximately 1.4 million square kilometers of arable land, only about 1.2% permanently supports crops and 525,800 square kilometers are irrigated. The land is divided into approximately 200 million households, with an average land allocation of only 1.6 acres.


Crop 1949 Output (tons) 1978 Output (tons) 1999 Output (tons)

1.	Grain	113,180,000	304,770,000	508,390,000
2.	Cotton	444,000	2,167,000	3,831,000
3.	Oil-bearing crops	2,564,000	5,218,000	26,012,000
4.	Sugarcane	2,642,000	21,116,000	74,700,000
5.	Sugarbeet	191,000	2,702,000	8,640,000
6.	Flue-cured tobacco	43,000	1,052,000	2,185,000
7.	Tea	41,000	268,000	676,000
8.	Fruit	1,200,000	6,570,000	62,376,000
9.	Meat	2,200,000	8,563,000	59,609,000
10.	Aquatic products	450,000	4,660,000	41,220,000

Lawsuits Double In 2008

In 2008, China reported that they had seen more then double the amount of lawsuits, compared to 2007, over wage related cases. Offical statistics from the southeastern city, Xiamen, "showed that labour related lawsuits more than doubled from 3,327 in 2007 to 8,313 in 2008."

Shen Deyong, vice-president of the Supreme People’s Court said that the sharp increase of lawsuits were “closely connected to businesses slumping and factories being shut down.” However, he also acknowledged that the introduction of the Labour Contract Law last year had raised awareness of workers’ rights and contributed to the increase in the number of lawsuits filed.

"It is only really in the last decade that workers have been willing and able to use the court system to claim unpaid wages and benefits, work-related injury and discrimination compensation. In many parts of China it is becoming easier to find a lawyer willing to take on labour related cases, while in Guangdong, hundreds of 'citizen agents' help workers file arbitration and routine civil court cases."

It has also been noted that most of the cases are won by the "worker plantiffs because the rights violations are so intolerable that the court has no other option, but to rule in their favour.

Political. China will treat fairly all international firms.

Many foreign executives have complained about the Chinese laws. They say that Chinese Government give better treatment to Chinese-invested companies. Thus, Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, said that they want to create an open and fair environment for foreign firms and they treat both foreign and Chinese companies equally. Furthermore, Chinese government said that they are going to favor those businesses which use energy and natural resources and help China more efficiently.

In my opinion, China's Government wants to make an impression of an open and fair country by allowing some laws that make the country to seem more liberal. At the same time, they said that they will favor companies that use natural resources so that they can excuse themselves if they treat preferentially Chinese companies.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704190704575489590837512112.html

Child Labour In China

As China's Economy Grows, So does China's Child Labour Problem

"[A] report concludes that child labour is particularly in demand because children have smaller hands and eyesight undamaged by years of labour, making them more desirable than adults for certain kinds of work."

The use of child labour is becoming more prevalent, especially in the following industries: Toy production, textiles, construction, food production, and light mechanical work.

This is generally because families, in rural areas of China, can not afford the cost of education for thier childern. Instead they ship them to larger cities where they are able to work and help support the family.

"Parents of juvenile labourers rarely have a clear idea of the adverse working conditions and physical risks inherent in industrial work. Moreover, the juvenile workers learn themselves are often reluctant to complain, knowing well the critical nature of their financial contributions to the family."

One of the biggest problems with child labour is the fact that juveniles are less aware of the safety hazards that surround them in their work place. " Furthermore, while adult and juvenile labourers both shoulder similar burdens of financial contribution to the family, the workplace injury or death of a minor brings an even greater degree of bereavement and psychological damage to loved ones."

Bribery Crack Down

One thing that has had an extremely large impact on business in developing economies has been the existence of bribery. It is common place still in many countries, but the link below tells about China’s effort to crack down on bribery. Bribery is a constant issue for all business people, abroad and also in the United States. This is yet another example that China is on the right path towards developing a fair economic system in all labor issues.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/09/09/chinese-anti-corruption-official-sentenced-death-taking-million-bribes/

Environmental Impact of Pollution in China

China is one the of world's fastest growing economies, but it is also one of the world's worst polluted areas. The World Health Organization has estimated that there are about 650,000 deaths per year in China due to indoor and outdoor air pollutants, while water pollutants kill about 95,000. One of the reasons why air and water pollutants are so big is due to the number of vehicles also known as CRV's. CRV's are highly inefficient in energy and consume about one fourth of disel fuels in China. One of the main reasons why pollutants are so high is due to the rising numbers of factories being built and more people driving to and from work instead of walking or taking public transportation. Though there are steps that the government is beginning to take such as placing emissions on how much factories can release certain gases and regulating the waterways, there is still alot of damage being done.

http://www.chinahush.com/2009/10/21/amazing-pictures-pollution-in-china/

In July 2010 there was an oil pipeline explosion in the town of Dalian, China.
https://www.outlook.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=efddde17430a42219215c771af78779f&URL=http%3a%2f%2fimages.search.yahoo.com%2fimages%2fview%3fback%3dhttp%253A%252F%252Fimages.search.yahoo.com%252Fsearch%252Fimages%253Fp%253DPort%252Bof%252BDalian%252BChina%2526ei%253DUTF-8%2526fr%253Dyfp-t-701%2526fr2%253Dtab-web%26w%3d990%26h%3d645%26imgurl%3dblooga.de%252Fcache%252Fimg%252Fd17_24398209.jpg%26rurl%3dhttp%253A%252F%252Fblooga.de%252Fbigpicture.php%253Fpage%253D%252F2010%252F07%252Foil_spill_in_dalian_china.html%26size%3d203KB%26name%3dOil%2bspill%2bin%2bDal...%26p%3dPort%2bof%2bDalian%2bChina%26oid%3db39ded9f980348cf5d2016582c7fccbd%26fr2%3dtab-web%26no%3d15%26tt%3d8720%26sigr%3d12cblnjfo%26sigi%3d114r4kpnr%26sigb%3d135ks0pnd

China's Natural Resources

China is one the world's leaders in natural resources. The country produces a multitude of resources from coal, iron, magnetite, petroleum, aluminum, natural gas, mercury, tin, lead, manganese, antimony, zinc and tungsten plus many more. China is the world's leader in natural gas, and third in Coal reserves. Most of China's resources are found along the coast line, mountain ranges and among the numerous river ways in the countryside. It is also said that China has the highest potential of becoming the world leader in hydro power with its quick flowing rivers and tributaries. Because of their numerous available resources, China is able to be one of the world's top exporters in just about everything.

China's Imports and Exports for 2009

According to the World Factbook China ranks second in exports and fourth in imports in 2009 when compared to all other countries. China's exports for 2009 were estimated at $1.204 trillion and their imports were $954.3 billion. Listed below are the top imports and exports for China in 2009. Also listed below is the top import and export partners for China.

Top Import Commodities

-electrical and other machinery

-oil and mineral fuels

-metal ores

-plastics

-organic chemicals

Top Export Commodities

- data processing equipment

-apparel

-textiles

-iron and steel

-optical and medicinal equipment

Top Import Partners

-Japan 12.27%

-Hong Kong 10.06%

-South Korea 9.04%

-United States 7.66%

-Taiwan 6.84%

-Germany 5.54%

Top Export Partners

-United States 20.03%

-Hong Kong 12.03%

-Japan 8.32%

-South Korea 4.55%

-Germany 4.27%

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html

China looks to promote strategic emerging industries

The Chinese government released the results of a meeting of the State Council to reveal the growing industries which included:
-energy saving & environmental protection
-new information technology
-biology
-high-end equipment manufacturing
-new energy
-new energy vehicles

The article goes on to say that these industries should increase their research and the government will aid in the development of these industries by providing industry standards and " creating a sound market environment". The government will also give preference to the finance and taxation of these industries as well as provide some special funds to assure that these industries have a chance to succeed.




http://china.globaltimes.cn/chinanews/2010-09/571488.html

Geography - Mountains

Overview

- Mountains make up 2/3 of China's land.

- Very rough terrains.

- Attract professional climbers from all over the world.






Mount Everest

- Tallest point on earth (8,850 meters).

- On the border of Nepal and China.

- Named after Sir George Everest in 1865 - Britsh surveyor-genreal of India.

- Raises a few inches every year.

- Biggest cause of death are avalanches.








http://www.chinatouristmaps.com/top-10s/mountains.html

China first anti-monopoly takes effect in 2008

China proposed the anti-monopoly law 1996 years ago and finally received approval in 2008 after 14 years. However, the article talked about that there is no better way to solve the problems in some crucial centrally administrated, state owned large enterprise and industry. Link:http://english.sina.com/china/2008/0801/175349.html

However, 1 year after the anti-monopoly law has established. China is still meeting its problem on defining the legal issues over large anterprises in the coutry. Lawyer zhou sued China Mobile on charges of abusing its market position to charge users exorbitant monthyly rental fees. However, the court reached a conciliatory agreement with the telecommunication giant. Zhou agreed to withdraw his lawsuit and in return China Mobile agreed to pay a 1,000 yuan "gratitude payment" for this suggestions and agreed to stop charging him a monthly mobile rental fee.

This is the fisrt time since the contry's new anti-monopoly law came into effect on August 1 last year, that a plantiff has recived any kind of compensation in an anti-monopoly lawsuit launched against domestic firm. Legal experts who are familiar with legal complexities of the anti-monopoly law, explained that "despite the fact that everone on the face of the earth knows that China Mobile is monopoly firm, given the complexity of the anti-monopoly law, ordinary consumers are simply not capable of obtaining the evidence needed to convvince the court to even accept the case. Offcials claimed that, as the mergers and acquisitions that took place among china's centrally-woned enterprises were led by the central goverment, state-owned enterprises are under control of the central goverment, they didn't need require any administrative approval.
Link: http://www.eeo.com.cn/ens/Politics/2009/11/10/155247.shtml

Geography: Sea

China's major ports include Qinhuangdao, Dalian, Tianjin, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong.




Port of Qinhuangdao:
Open in 1893 and is the world's largest coal loading port. It transports about 50% of China's coal moves through here every year. From here it is dispersed by sea and land throughout China and other parts of the world.



Port of Dalian:
Located just to the southeast of Qinhuangdao and Dalian is the biggest shipping center in China. The Port of Dalian is home to ship builders and locomotive manufactures, and it has a manufacturing sector that is thriving. The sector is producing machines, chemical, textiles, electronics, and petroleum based products.



Port of Tianjin
The Port of Tianjin's manufacturing sector is the cities biggest and fastest growing part of the city's economy. The surrounding area is made up of about 40% farmland with rice, wheat, adn maize being its most important crops. Fishing and the industrial sector are also very important to the local economy. The Port of Tianjin is China's biggest artificial harbor and very important to the countries foreign trade.



Port of Qingdao
The Port of Qingdao is one of northern China's best natural harbors, the bay is open year around for large vessels. It is also a great curtural center with several important universities, marine science, and technology. The cities economy thrives on international trade and foreign investments.

Port of Shanghai
The Port of Shanghai is China's most popuulated city and is the worldest second busiest seaport. The port is China's leading commercial and financial center and has been called the world fastest growing economy.

Port of Ningbo
The Port of Ningbo dates as far back as 4800 BC.

Port of Guangzhou
The Port of Guangzhou is located in the Pearl Delta Region. The port is a major transportation hub for the region.

Port of Shenzhen
The Port of Shenzhen is one of the bussiest ports in souther China. It serves the Pearl Delta Region and is also one of China's most important ports for international trade.

Port of Hong Kong
The Port of Hong Kong has played a major role in the revelopment of the city of Hong Kong. It is a hub port that serves the South Asian Pacific region. It is one of the bussiest container ports in the world.

Geography: 5 Most Populated Cities in China

Shenzhen skyline.

Beijing after the conclusion of the 2008 Olympic Games.

1. Shanghai: With a population of over 16 million, Shanghai is the largest city in China and the 10th largest city in the world. Shanghai sits on the Yangtze River Delta on China's eastern coast, and is roughly equidistant from Beijing and Hong Kong. Air pollution in Shanghai is low compared to other Chinese cities such as Beijing, but the rapid development over the past decades means it is still high on worldwide standards, comparable to Los Angeles.

2. Beijing: With a population of over 12 million, Beijing is China's second largest city and is the 19th largest city in the world. Beijing is also the capital city of the People's Republic of China and was host to the 2008 Olympic games. Beijing is situated at the northern tip of the roughly triangular North China Plain, which opens to the south and east of the city. Mountains to the north, northwest and west shield the city and northern China's agricultural heartland from the encroaching desert steppes.

3. Guangzhou: Guangzhou has a population of over 10 million, making it the third largest city in China. The city is part of the Pearl River Delta situated next to the Baiyun Mountain, which is locally referred to as "the lung of the city". Guangzhou has a lengthy monsoon season, spanning from April through September, averaging 67 inches of rainfall a year.

4. Shenzhen: Shenzhen has a total population of over 8 million people, and is one of China's most rapidly growing cities thanks to a large amount of foreign investors. A former fishing village in the 1970's, Shenzhen has had over $30 billion pumped into its economy from foreign investors for building factories and forming joint ventures. It is now reputedly one of the fastest growing cities in the world.

5. Tianjin: Tianjin has a population of around 6 million people, making it China's fifth largest city. Farmland takes up about 40% of Tianjin total area. Wheat, rice, and maize are the most important crops with fishing the most important along the coast. Tianjin is generally flat, and swampy near the coast, but hilly in the far north, where the Yanshan Mountains pass through the tip of northern Tianjin.

Geography - Rivers

Overview

- China has more than 50,000 rivers.

- Most of the rivers flow from west (mountains) to east (lower plains).

- Rivers are mainly used for transporting goods to the ports at sea.

Most Important Rivers in China

1. Yangtze River

- Longest river in China, measuring at 6300 kilometers (3rd in world).
- Flows through Shanghai.
- Catchment area of 1.8 million square millions (1/5 of the total land in China).
- Cruises are on the river are one of the most popular tourists attractions.
- Location of the Three Gorges Dam (considered one of the wonders of the world).

2. Yellow River

- Second longest river in China (5,464 kilometers).
- Flows across 9 provinces.
- Attracts tourists from all over the world.
- Breathtaking scenary.
- Lots of history and culture along the river.

3. Heilongjiang River

- Takes the form of a black dragon, and gets its name from that.
- Located in the far north regions.
- 11th largest river in the world (4,370 kilometers).
- Lots of green trees anbd grass along the river.

http://www.chinatouristmaps.com/top-10s/top-10s-rivers.html

Geography: Climate

China’s climate varies from bitter cold in the winter to unbearable heat in the summer. The Yangtze River serves as the diving line between the north and the south. China’s climate is dominated by hot dry seasons and wet monsoons; this type of change is caused by the cold northern winds from the mountains in the winter and the warm southern winds coming off the sea in the summer months. We can break the country up into 4 regions to describe the countries climate: North, Central, South, and Northwest.

North:
Northern winters, from December to March, can be extremely cold. Some parts of the area can experience temperatures as low as -40*F. While the summer months, May to August, the same areas can hit 100*F.

Central:
The Yangtze River valley has long and humid summers with high temperatures. The winters can be as cold as those in the North.

South:
The south is effected by the typhoons season in the summer spanning from July to September with temperatures can rise to as much as 100*F. The winters here are short only lasting a few months after the first of the year.

Northwest:
This region contains some of the most harsh and diverse climate changes in the entire country. In the summer it is hot, dry and sunny. The desert region can be scorching in the daytime. A depression lies here approximately 150m below sea level; this is known by many as “the hottest place in China” with maximum temperatures around 116*F. The winters can see temperatures around 14*F. Precipitation averages less than 4 inches per year.


http://www.china-travel-tour-guide.com/about-china/climate.shtml



China's Annual Percipitation:

Timeline of Inventions

Here is a timeline of inventions in China. What's interesting about this timeline is that it also shows when these inventions were developed/received in the Western World.

http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/song/readings/inventions_timeline.htm

Current GDP, Labor Force, & Inflation Rate

Here are the current GDP, Labor Force, and Inflation Rate posted by The World Factbook on this website.... https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html


Current GDP- By Sectors
Agriculture- 10.6%
Industry- 46.8%
Services- 42.6%
(Est. 2009)

Labor Force- By Occupation
Agriculture- 39.5%
Industry- 27.2%
Services- 33.2%
(Est. 2008)
Total Labor Force: 813.5 Million (Est. 2009)

Current Inflation Rate
-0.7% (Est. 2009)

New political reforms bring right to property ownership in China

In the past few years, China has seen an increasing growth in suicide levels, as well as quality of life. In a move to counter the problem as well as address concerns of the rights of individuals, China is slowly bringing reforms such as property ownership into their political system. Although not as liberally democratic as the United States, they still maintain a stance of growing individual rights, comparing their goals to Singapore.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/95479/

POLITICS. The History of Communism in China

What is communism?

It is a system of social organization in which all economic and social activity is controlled by a totalitarian state dominated by a single and self-perpetuating political party.

The Communism in China began around 1911, when for the first time China was not controlled by an Imperial Government. All those ideological influence came from Karl Marx and many people started joining revolutionary groups to change their country.

Mao Zedong was a poor person who became the main leader of the communism party in China around 1949. His goal was to achieve the liberation of the proletariat class, although he tried to achieve it with totalitarian strategy.

That situation changed when Deng Xiaoping took the power. He thought in a different way as Mao did. Deng's goal was to have a free market so that the economy could increase and get better.

After Deng, the next president was Jian Zemin, who allowed private entrepreneurs to exist in China.

As we can see in this article, China is slowly shifting itself to a more democratic country and lately they are allowing more practices that before they did not.

This is the article where we found the information about Communism in China

http://www.gowealthy.com/gowealthy/wcms/en/home/articles/travel/culture/Communism-In-china-WBBDG6ZFB4.html