Yeah, no “New Year resolutions”.
Maybe one, just before that dreaded day of 31 (if you know me you’ll understand).
I am going to take a break from this blog. Is it the horrendous Beijing pollution (topping 500 these days), is it old age, is it nervous breakdown, is it demotivation, is it trying to stop my beloved cigars, etc. No comments, no pick.
This blog has become too big, too diverse. Bloated?
I have lots of stuff sitting ready to be edited, pics to be uploaded. They’ll remain there taking digital dust.
I do have some nice and interested readers (NOT those looking for the BIGGEST PENIS or for sexy massage Beijing).
I need desperately to clean up my computer files (doing it right now), sorting out my thousands of pictures, clean out my office of useless files and company introductions, clean up my head (tough). Wading through gigabytes of files I stumble on so much crap I had to deal with in the past years, a lot to do with the (dreaded) Olympics.
Any of you still interested in my views on Beijing, Chinese girls, pollution, etc.: I will take out more time for personal contacts. You know how to find me. Could be more fun.
Writing a book? Not yet convinced. Too much rubbish comes out every day, including intellectual waste about the importance of ying and yang, Confucianism, etc. People are even paid to blabber about it. They urgently need a visit to the Gongti Strip after 11 pm; the new Babyface is open.
Month: December 2007
2007 on its last legs…
To all the readers, the faithful, the occasional (looking for sexy stuff in Beijing), the known and unknown: Happy Holidays and a Happy 2008. And lots of excitement with the 2008 Olympics (with a tone of muted sarcasm and curiosity).
For me, a year filled with some good, some bad. Will keep it for myself except for close friends who can hear it whispered in their ears.
No Christmas cards, New Year cards, e-mails sent out to dozens of people. Don’t feel like it. Anyway, people already receive too much in their mail boxes.
No “New Year resolutions” either, I still have the last year’s ones.
some wishes anyway, thanks to Access Asia (a reliable source of sarcasm)
Received the following greetings from a friend in Beijing, he gets the first prize for the most unusual e-mail Holiday Greetings. Typical of his sarcasm, something we regularly share. Identity not revealed!
No snow, no reindeer, no politically incorrect ho-ho-ho’s, no teddy bears called Jesus, no “with-very-best-wishes-to-all-the-family-for-Christmas -and-the-New-Year”, no jaw-dropping family yawnletters, for this year I am sending out only Gandhi-cards… to provoke a smile, a shudder, a momentary insight, while achieving a substantial saving on cards and postage stamps, which I will not, not, not be giving to charity.
For I am and remain,
Mahatma Grinch.
(although you will all know “Be the change you want to see in the world”, you may not be so familiar with some of these. MG)
“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ”
“God has no religion”
“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind”
“I believe in equality for everyone except reporters and photographers”
“I object to violence because when it appears to do good. The good is only temporary, the evil it does is permanent”
“There is more to life than increasing its speed”
“There is no path to Peace. Peace is the path”
“Live simply so that others may simply live”
“What do I think of Western civilization? I think it would be a very good idea.”
But now please go and deck the halls with boughs of holly…… Fa-la-la-la-la …..fa la-la-la-la!
Mahatma Grinch.
2008: China trade pattern: unsustainable?!
I met the commercial counsellors of all 27 EU countries to discuss about doing business in China, plus some other top business people in private meetings.
The overall feeling is of concern for the near future. Both the EU and the USA are raising their voices and getting impatient.
Local Chinese government officials I recently met do seem clueless and feel all is well. Agreed, they cannot read the real story in their local newspaper.
On the other hand some figures and comments explain a lot.
The EU now is a total of 27 countries with a population of close to 480 million and a combined GNP exceeding 10 trillion euros.
According to Mofcom:
EU is now China’s largest trading partner according: in 2006 total trade stood at US$ 272.29 billion. Trade surplus for China was US$ 91.7 billion and in the first ten months of 2007 it climbed to US$ 102.8 billion. In 2006, the value of sales by EU companies with investment in China was US$ 206.6 billion “helping offset the disparity in the trade figures”.
But here is another version, of the EU Delegation in Beijing, ambassador Serge Abou:
“The EU trade deficit with China could reach 150 to 160 billion euro in 2007. The EU deficit growth of 30 to 35 billion euro per year is unsustainable.”
The visit of EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson in late 2007 brought more EU comments:
The EU deficit is increasing at a pace of 15 million euro per hour.
Beijing is now the largest source of manufactured imports for Europe.
EU exports to China are less than to Switzerland.
EU companies lose 20 billion euro per year due to China’s non-tariff barriers and regulatory discrimination.
For the USA, much the same. During the China – USA talks in December 2007 – US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr. and US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez:
“Talks left the USA unfulfilled. Lingering concerns that China is increasingly using arcane regulations to keep out American products and wants to promote its own domestic economic “champions”. “In China there is an increasingly powerful domestic industry that is a strong lobby.” (IHT)”
Vice-Premier Wu Yi: “Some unharmonious notes” in the Sino-US trade ties this year: “It is marked by a sharp rise in the number of congressional legislation against China, evident politicization of economic and trade issues, strengthened control on exports to China and the purposeful exaggeration of China’s food and product safety.”
Then look at China Foreign Trade so far:
In the first eleven months of 2007: nearly US$ 2 trillion up 23.6% YoY.
Exports: US$ 1.1 trillion, up 26.1% – imports: US$ 865.5 billion, up 20.5% (no comments needed)
Trade surplus: US$ 238.1 billion up 52.2%
Now, that does not look so sustainable. I keep hearing from seasoned business people business is tough, less market access, rigged bidding, large-scale industrial IPR infringements. Yeah, yeah, read the wonderful success stories. Just talk frankly with people on the ground.
What the USA and EU need is not renminbi revaluation. They need reasonable market access, the consensus during a stiff drinking session in Centro, when the truth comes out. Not the one-way flow of goods and services. And the EU does want to export high-tech to China, businesses complain they can’t or don’t get paid (fairly).
CIHAF 2007 11 Dec 07 – energy waste
That’s “China International Real Estate & Arch-tech Fair”, held in the China International Exhibition Center, an exhibition to show real estate projects and new technology for energy conservation and environment-friendly construction.
As usual famous Lao Fan (aka Gilbert) had to brighten up the row of dignitaries to cut the opening ribbon, showing off his new 2007 EU tie from the Portuguese presidency plus his gray hair. Took the opportunity to drag along some other laowais who (still) feel thrilled to be on stage, Hirio Ottino and Daniel Petrich. (does not look like it but both speaking français, vraiment).
Got to chat with Wu Zhongze, vice minister of the Ministry of Science & Technology, who was the VVIP.
Never saw so many journalists who pushed and shoved to make pictures and shoot film. A bit puzzling.
The exhibition showed some of the advanced products like real good isolating windows, Canadian wood, etc. Leaves me always skeptic as Chinese construction still lags behind to make buildings really energy friendly.
The waste of energy is enormous and few seem to care. All this blabla about saving energy and green buildings makes me tired. A good start would be better temperature control – overall non-existent. Don’t be fooled by the high-tech looking thermostats, they serve no purpose but for the vendors to do business. Central heating systems have no control at all and just pump hot water to the point the only way is to open the windows, what is the mostly used high-tech approach. Don’t try to close down the radiator, you might end up with a flooded room and a piece of rusted iron in your hands.
Same for the air ducts who spew out hot, dry and polluted air. Forget “control”. Example: PowerHouse Gym.
Just taking care of the above could save 20 to 40% of energy consumption in Beijing. And bring clear skies.
ICBC – HSBC, the China Conference
Every year I join the conference to feel the pulse of the finance, investment and banking world in China. Usually many people turn up, like 1,000, as well as throngs of journalists. There are always some of the biggest shots in the industry to give a speech.
This year it took place in the Westin Hotel (Finance Street) under the title “Financing and Investing for Sustainable growth”.
Key speeches and presentations are mostly bland and say little or nothing that is worth mentioning. The Conference is mostly for me to hear what is NOT being said.
Some of my friends bankers get upset by the “empty talk, the B***S###”. Like when the Chinese bank officials talk about the need for innovation, the lack of expertise, etc. “Well, we foreign banks can do a lot but they just don’t let us”. Grumble grumble.
This year there was one remarkable message from nearly all Chinese key speakers: there is a serious risk for financial markets to drop considerably. “Markets do not always go up so we need to be prepared”. Not exactly an optimistic message. The subprime loan crisis is one of the factors mentioned. Not to talk about the totally crazy stock market in China. No more need to go to Macao, more and better here.
Some of the key speakers:
+ Zhou Xiaochuan, governor, PBOC
+ Lou Jiwei, chairman of the board, China Investment Corporation
+ NDRC vice chairman Zhang Xiaoqiang. In my opinion the best speaker:
– Switch from quantity to quality in foreign investment; new catalogue for investment; reduce export oriented and polluting industries for FDI; more focus on inland regions
– Chinese investments abroad going more global but still in its infancy; companies should be most involved, government to facilitate and lead the way; improve policies of forex and type of ownership abroad;. participation of large firms & SME.
+ Jiang Jianqing, chairman ICBC
+ Mike Moore, former PM of New Zealand (not exactly the highlight of the day)
+ Tianjin representative: Tianjin is an area of 11,000 km2 with over 11 million people. New Binhai Region covers 650 km2. New project of 10 million ton oil refining project.
See here the picture gallery with some pics of the key speakers – click on this link:
http://homepage.mac.com/bjprc/PhotoAlbum13.html