Tag: leaders

If You Stall . . . Others Roar

On By PaulLeave a comment

If You Stall . . . Others Roar

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In a motor race, speed must be maintained to avoid a stall and loss of power & control. If you stall, others will roar. Catching up will be a task unless you’re an exceptional driver & your engine is beyond compare. You will most certainly have to take a back seat & say farewell to the race.

By the same analogy, in this economic competitive world, the truth is slowly but surely becoming progressively obvious. It stands to reason that others will not stand by & wait for you to recover. The race often goes to the swiftest. While US is bogged down sorting out its home affairs & busy playing “Big Brother” in its democratic imperialistic outreach from Middle East to the Far East, other emerging economies are engaged in productivity that count.

Out of this grave economic crisis, US initiated & originated, a clear global change is emerging. Economic doom & gloom out West is giving way to the East in bloom! We see a rise of new power & other emerging economies by the hour.

It’s not that emerging economies are trusting US less, but that they are trusting China more! After all, China is:

  • leading from the front & setting the example

  • giving out loans on better terms than IMF

  • aids for development & infrastructures

  • free from dependence on US Dollar exchange

For the above reasons, the BRIC economies (Brazil, Russia, India & China) are now knitting convenient economic terms of arrangement for mutual benefits.

From a global standpoint, China is now leading in stimulating its economy & relegating the US to the back or passenger seat. Green shoots are sprouting & growing evidently. Its 2-year stimulus package of four trillion Yuan is positively directed to productive economic activities & infrastructures. US is steadily being eclipsed as the global economic driver by China & the other emerging economies.

With much of Europe following in the tail of US stalling in their economies & problems galore in their consumer & banking or financial sectors, the BRIC economies & markets are getting on with their global trade & other business activities. This is marking clearly a meaningful & historical transition of the shift in power hegemony. The motion is set & there’s no turning back to restart an old engine that’s no longer dependable or reliable.

Not being overly optimistic, China is indeed singing, while US & Europe are sinking. South America & Africa with their rich resources are cutting deals with China on terms mutually agreeable. China has been sending out its ministers, jet-setting the world on shopping spree, sourcing the world for products & markets . . . making investments to perpetuate its power house.

This is definitively a grand reversal of fortunes – an emergence of a different order that found the US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on his recent ‘selling’ mission to China. It’s hard times that call for hard sell!

Paul Chong

A Chinese by Descent

An Australian by Consent

Tuesday, 9 June 2009

Related Article:

*Chinese Leaders Jet-Setting The World on Buying Spree

Chinese Leaders Jet-Setting The World on Buying Spree

On By PaulLeave a comment

Chinese Leaders Jet-Setting The World on Buying Spree

President Hu Jintao

While other world leaders are staying home plagued with solving their economic crisis, the Chinese leaders Hu Jintao (President), Xi Jinping (Vice President and Wen Jiabao (Premier) were jet setting the world on buying spree. What does this mean? Like top sales corporate executives sourcing out world products & markets, they are doing the same.

Chinese Premier Wen jiabaoPresident Hu Jintao

Though China’s stimulus package is worth a whopping four trillion Yuan over two years, it has abundant cash reserves after years of double digit economic boom. To say the least, China is in a better shape by far than any other economies & facing no worse than a slowing down in its

economy. Time is opportune for China to

be buying resources at present low prices, renewing & establishing new contacts . . . making investments that will ensure further impetus to the Chinese power house.

(Premier Wen Jiabao >)



China Vice President Xi Jinping Vice-President Xi Jinping

Their recent buying spree includes . . .

  • A $19.5 billion investment in resource conglomerate Rio Tinto by Aluminum Corp of China, financed by the China Development Bank.

  • China Petrochemical’s $1.5 billion purchase of Canada’s Tanganyika Oil operating in Syria.

  • A $25 billion loan to the Russian government in exchange for 290,000 barrels of oil per day for the next 25 years and a pipeline to China to carry the oil.

  • A $10 billion loan to Brazil securing up to 160,000 barrels of crude a day.

  • A deal with Venezuela for up to 1 million barrels of oil per day by 2015 in return for another $4 billion to top off an existing development fund.

  • A $1.7 billion bid by China Minmetals for OZ Minerals, an Australian zinc producer on the verge of bankruptcy.

All these, while assuring its supply chain, will contribute positively to further the growth of the Chinese economy. Logic will tell you that you can’t keep on spending money which you don’t have & get deeper into debts. But if you have $2 trillion cash reserves, then it’s a wise move indeed.

Now you can see why China is booming while others are groaning & going under in this economic trough. The tens of thousands of factories closing in China & the millions of Chinese out of work bear little numerical consequences in a country as huge as China. Its economic gear is in place, bank lending is soaring, up an amazing 101% to the tune of $237 billion, with 35% of all lending in January going towards infrastructure projects including power grid, railways & nuclear plants.

Other economic scenario is also encouraging: retail sales continue to explode higher, up a whopping 24.5%, from clothing sales to electronics & luxury items. For January, Mercedes Benz saw sales of its S-Class models jump an impressive 26% in China.

China is led by a good team of leaders. They are making sure their power house engine is matching up with the superb performance of the classed Mercedes engine & Rolls Royce.

Metaphorically speaking, the sun rises in the East & sets in the West. It looks like China, despite all the doom & gloom, is climbing up in the right direction.

Paul Chong

A Chinese by Descent

An Australian by Consent

Friday, 27 February 2009