It’s no secret that Chinese government purchases have long propped-up the fortunes of Audi and other luxury car brands that market to affluent Chinese (for info on this endlessly enjoyable topic, see here and here). But what’s less well known is the raw number of government-owned vehicles currently clogging Chinese roads. That is to say:…
All posts in Business and Trade
China’s Steelmakers to World: We hate market prices.
I’m dealing with a new computer, jetlag, and months of statistics suggesting that Shanghai Scrap’s readers prefer Olympics-related blogging to Iron Ore-related blogging. But, you know, sometimes you have to eat your vegetables before you get to dessert. Or something like that (dessert will be served late tonight or tomorrow). Anyway. I wasn’t planning on…
For the purposes of the Olympics, my name is …
[June 18 Update … at end of post.] [and … June 20 Update … at end of post.] Back in mid-May I joined millions of other China-based Olympic fans in a mad dash to order tickets on a Ticketmaster-designed system that – despite what the authorities say – wasn’t working properly. At least at first.…
Quality School Construction is an Environmental Issue, too.
Now that it’s a fairly well established fact that most if not all of Sichuan’s collapsed schools failed to meet national or provincial construction standards, here’s another hypothesis worth testing: None of the defective materials used in Sichuan’s collapsed schools were produced in factories that met China’s national environmental standards for air, water, and other…
Olympic Bed & Bath
You go to work wearing an official Beijing 2008 baseball cap. You ask your secretary to serve you tea in your very own official Beijing 2008 tea set. And, when local officials stop by to visit, you impress them with your official 1 kg Beijing 2008 gold bar (a US$19,500.00 value). But despite all of…
How to crash a market.
Back in mid-January, the economic geniuses who manage the Chinese economy announced that – in the face of rising inflation – they would institute price controls on key commodities. As I explained back then, and stand by now, the net result of such a policy can only be hoarding and additional inflation. Which brings me…
The Chinese E-Scrap Evolution
Currently, China throws away roughly 120 million waste appliances per year, including computers, televisions/monitors, washing machines, refrigerators, and air-conditioners. Yet, for the better part of two decades, most environmental activists concerned with China have taken a far greater interest in how foreigners dispose of their wastes in China (for example, attention devoted to the e-scrap…
Big Dumb Recycling Machine.
[12 September 2008 – Suddenly, this post is generating several hits per day from Venezuela. Could someone explain why?] A couple of weeks ago Shanghai Daily reported that China’s first automatic “drinking bottle recycling machine” had been installed on Nanjing Road for RMB 30,000 (US$4290). The idea is simple: after finishing your canned or bottled…
Flying the Subsidized Skies.
[Get out your calculators] How is it possible that all five of the major US airlines were unprofitable last quarter – while Air China managed to see its profits climb 147%, to RMB 1.04 billion (US$149 million)? There were undoubtedly a range of factors at play, but the one that I’d like to touch on…
The Wuxi White House
I’m just back from an interesting couple of days in Wuxi, and I promise to resume substantive blogging over the weekend. In the meantime, though, a photo of a building that Wuxi’s locals (especially local government officials) like to call the “White House.” They also like to ask visiting Americans (at least, this visiting American)…