China - Tópico principal

[John_Law]

Roubo de propriedade intelectual na China?! O quê?! Há surpresas nesta vida...

Em que medida seria isso um desenvolvimento importante?

[Incognitus]

Roubo de propriedade intelectual na China?! O quê?! Há surpresas nesta vida...

Em que medida seria isso um desenvolvimento importante?

Se for levado seriamente, acabará por ser positivo para algumas das vítimas desse roubo de propriedade intelectual, que poderão usufruir de um mercado algo alargado.

[John_Law]

Roubo de propriedade intelectual na China?! O quê?! Há surpresas nesta vida...

Em que medida seria isso um desenvolvimento importante?

Se for levado seriamente, acabará por ser positivo para algumas das vítimas desse roubo de propriedade intelectual, que poderão usufruir de um mercado algo alargado.

O problema é que eles nunca levaram o problema a sério, por razões óbvias. Até o Baidu que tem alguma visibilidade global distribui conteúdos pirateados...

Esses casos provavelmente devem ser entre empresas chinesas, e se forem duvido devem ser muitos pequenos casos com empresas de média dimensão, a avaliar pela quantidade de suspeitos.

[JoaoAP]

China bloqueia jornais internacionais que publicaram investigação sobre elite comunista e paraísos fiscais
A China está a bloquear os sites dos órgãos de comunicação social que revelaram a investigação à elite chinesa. O “El País”, “The Guardian”, “BBC”, “Le Monde”, “Süddeutsche Zeitung” e “Asahi Shimbun” aliaram-se numa investigação aos elementos mais importantes da sociedade chinesa, que apurou que grande parte da elite do país tem ocultado empresas em paraísos fiscais.
...

Negocios.pt

[hermes]

Segue-se um artigo da Forbes que entretanto sumiu, mas que ainda está na cache do Google. Fica uma lição importante para os traders: quem senta primeiro, senta melhor.

China Halts Bank Cash Transfers

by Gordon G. Chang,
on 1/26/2014 @ 4:19PM

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonchang/2014/01/26/china-halts-bank-cash-transfers-2/

The People’s Bank of China Bank of China, the central bank, has just ordered commercial banks to halt cash transfers.

This notice, for instance, appears on the online portal for Citigroup's Citigroup's Citibank unit for its China customers:

Important Notice:

1. Due to the system maintenance of People’s Bank of China, Domestic RMB Fund Transfer through Citibank (China) Online and Citi Mobile will be delayed during January 30th 2014, 16:00pm to February 2nd 2014, 18:30pm. As to the fund availability at the receiving bank, it depends on the processing requirements and turnaround time of the receiving bank. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

2. During Spring Festival, Foreign Currency Transfer Transaction through Citibank (China) Online and Citi Mobile will be temporally not available from January 30, 2014 18:00pm to February 7, 2014 09:00am. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

If you have any enquiries, please reach us via our 24-hour banking hotline at 800-830-1880 or credit card hotline at 400-821-1880. If you are calling from other parts of the world, please reach us at 86-20-38801267 for banking services or 86-21-38969500 for credit card services.

In short, there will be a three-day suspension of domestic renminbi transfers.  There will also be a suspension, spanning nine calendar days, of conversions of renminbi to foreign currency.

The specific reason given—“system maintenance” at the central bank—is preposterous.  It is not credible that during the highest usage period in the year—the weeklong Lunar New Year holiday beginning January 31—the central bank would schedule an upgrade and shut down cash transfers.

A better explanation is that the country’s banking system is running dry.  Yes, there is an increased need for money in the run-up to and during the Lunar New Year holiday, but that is only a small factor.  After all, central bank officials knew this spike in demand was coming—it occurs every year at this time—and a core function of central banks is to manage seasonal liquidity fluctuations.  Moreover, the holiday has not started yet, and the PBOC, as that institution is known, could have added more liquidity to meet cash needs.

So what’s really going on?  This crunch follows similar incidents in June and December of last year.  In June, for instance, the central bank used the excuse of a “system upgrade” to allow banks to shut down their ATMs and online banking platforms.  As a result, they conserved cash and thereby avoided a nationwide meltdown.

So today’s “system maintenance” notice is a sign of a fundamental problem.  Banks, in short, need cash to rollover ever-increasing amounts of nonperforming loans and wealth management products.  This month, cash needs are even higher than normal because of the impending default of the Credit Equals Gold wealth product scheduled for January 31.  Analysts are worried that the failure, if it occurs, will cause a China-wide panic.

Perhaps more important, the Federal Open Market Committee is holding its next meeting on January 28-29 so there could be an announcement on the 29th on the trimming of bond purchases.  The suspension of FX transactions means that speculators will not be able to dump renminbi and buy dollars.  Fed Chair Bernanke’s words on tapering, beginning in May of last year, shook emerging markets.  A FOMC announcement this time could undermine China, especially because of the darkening perceptions about that country.

Pundits, pointing to the nation’s $3.82 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, are fond of saying that Beijing has enough money to weather any situation.  Yet China does not have a foreign currency crisis.  It has a domestic currency one where dollars, euros, pounds, and yen are not much use.

Banks are evidently scrambling for cash.  They have, in the past, resorted to desperate maneuvers at the ends of calendar quarters to meet regulatory requirements.  The current crunch is even more alarming because it cannot be occurring for quarter-end reasons.

Something is very wrong in China at the moment.  Banks’ apparent need to conserve cash, coming just weeks after the last incident, looks ominous.

[Incognitus]

Supostamente foi um "hoax" / falso.

[valves1]

 Os bancos andarem a chatear as pessoas para cobrir buracos no balanco e um bocado caricato; sobretudo um pais que
tem aplicacoes brutais em reservas de moeda estrangeira  denota um sistema monetario da idade da pedra ou no minimo que os bancos nao estao a cooperar entre si para resolver este tipo de  problemas;
O banco central chines bem que podia imprimir nem que fosse para resolver  temporariamente o problema  e depois se veria os acertos ( desalavancagens / desinvestimentos ) que cada Banco individual teria que fazer para resolver o seu problema.
caricato ...

So what’s really going on?  This crunch follows similar incidents in June and December of last year.  In June, for instance, the central bank used the excuse of a “system upgrade” to allow banks to shut down their ATMs and online banking platforms.  As a result, they conserved cash and thereby avoided a nationwide meltdown.

So today’s “system maintenance” notice is a sign of a fundamental problem.  Banks, in short, need cash to rollover ever-increasing amounts of nonperforming loans and wealth management products.  This month, cash needs are even higher than normal because of the impending default of the Credit Equals Gold wealth product scheduled for January 31.  Analysts are worried that the failure, if it occurs, will cause a China-wide panic.

[hermes]

Os bancos andarem a chatear as pessoas para cobrir buracos no balanco e um bocado caricato; sobretudo um pais que
tem aplicacoes brutais em reservas de moeda estrangeira  denota um sistema monetario da idade da pedra ou no minimo que os bancos nao estao a cooperar entre si para resolver este tipo de  problemas;
O banco central chines bem que podia imprimir nem que fosse para resolver  temporariamente o problema  e depois se veria os acertos ( desalavancagens / desinvestimentos ) que cada Banco individual teria que fazer para resolver o seu problema.
caricato ...

So what’s really going on?  This crunch follows similar incidents in June and December of last year.  In June, for instance, the central bank used the excuse of a “system upgrade” to allow banks to shut down their ATMs and online banking platforms.  As a result, they conserved cash and thereby avoided a nationwide meltdown.

So today’s “system maintenance” notice is a sign of a fundamental problem.  Banks, in short, need cash to rollover ever-increasing amounts of nonperforming loans and wealth management products.  This month, cash needs are even higher than normal because of the impending default of the Credit Equals Gold wealth product scheduled for January 31.  Analysts are worried that the failure, if it occurs, will cause a China-wide panic.

Imprimir???

Em comparação com o Banco Central da China, todos os outros bancos centrais são meninos de coro.

Chart Of The Day: How In Five Short Years, China Humiliated The World's Central Banks

by Tyler Durden
on 11/26/2013 16:35 -0400

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-11-26/chart-day-how-five-short-years-breakneck-liquification-china-humiliated-worlds-centr

The concept of the "liquidity trap" is well-known to most: it is that freak outlier in an otherwise spotless Keynesian plane, when due to the need for negative interest rates to boost the economy (usually resulting from that other inevitable Keynesian state: the bursting of an asset bubble) - a structural impossibility according to most economists although an increasingly more probable in Europe - central banks have no choice but to offset a deleveraging private banking sector and directly inject liquidity into the banking sector with the outcome being soaring asset prices, and even more bubbles which will eventually burst only to be replaced with even more failed attempts at reflation. Sadly, very little of this liquidity makes its way to the broad economy as the ongoing recession in the developed world has shown for the 5th year in a row, which in turn makes the liqudity trap even worse, and so on in a closed loop.

Since there is little else in the central bankers' arsenal that is as effective in boosting the "wealth effect" - which is how they validate their actions to themselves and other economists and politicians - they continue to do ever more QE. And since banks are assured at generating far greater returns on allocated capital in the markets, where they can use the excess deposits they obtain courtesy of the Fed's generous reserve-a-palooza as initial margin for risk-on trades, the liquidity pipelines remain stuck throughout the world, and loan creation - that traditional money creation pathway - is permanently blocked (as is the case empirically in both the US and Europe, where private-sector loan creation is declining at a record pace).

Everywhere except the one place that has yet to actually engage in conventional quantitative easing: China. At least explicitly, because loan creation by China's state-controlled entities and otherwise government backstopped banks, is anything but conventional money creation. One can, therefore, claim that China's loan creation is a form of Quasi-QE whereby banks, constrained from investing in a relatively shallow stock market, and unable to freely transfer the CNY-denominated liquidity abroad, are forced to lend it out knowing that if things turn soure at the end of the day, the PBOC will bail them out. Paradoxically, this "non-QE" is exactly how QE should work in the US and other developed markets.

That's the long story.

The short story is far simpler.

In order to offset the lack of loan creation by commercial banks, the "Big 4" central banks - Fed, ECB, BOJ and BOE - have had no choice but the open the liquidity spigots to the max. This has resulted in a total developed world "Big 4" central bank balance of just under $10 trillion, of which the bulk of asset additions has taken place since the Lehman collapse.

How does this compare to what China has done? As can be seen on the chart below, in just the past 5 years alone, Chinese bank assets (and by implication liabilities) have grown by an astounding $15 trillion, bringing the total to over $24 trillion, as we showed yesterday. In other words, China has expanded its financial balance sheet by 50% more than the assets of all global central banks combined!

And that is how - in a global centrally-planned regime which is where everyone now is, DM or EM - your flood your economy with liquidity. Perhaps the Fed, ECB or BOJ should hire some PBOC consultants to show them how it's really done.

[Incognitus]

O ritmo de criação de dívida no Ocidente também era superior antes de a bolha estoirar.

[valves1]

Everywhere except the one place that has yet to actually engage in conventional quantitative easing: China. At least explicitly, because loan creation by China's state-controlled entities and otherwise government backstopped banks, is anything but conventional money creation. One can, therefore, claim that China's loan creation is a form of Quasi-QE whereby banks, constrained from investing in a relatively shallow stock market, and unable to freely transfer the CNY-denominated liquidity abroad, are forced to lend it out knowing that if things turn soure at the end of the day, the PBOC will bail them out. Paradoxically, this "non-QE" is exactly how QE should work in the US and other developed markets.

Mas entao o PBOC nao esta a fazer o bail out tao rapido quanto deve, pois caso contrario os bancos  nao  estariam a inventar formas de  as pessoas nao  poderem aceder as suas contas  bancarias para que os bancos tenham os fundos que precisam para poderem fazerem o rollover de creditos incumpridos.
  alem de que me parece que esta forma de expansao monetaria chinesa em que os bancos emprestam potencialmente muito mais do que podem vai acentuar problemas destes;
 existe aqui um paradoxo em que por uma lado  se tolera que os bancos possam emprestar mais do que podem  esperando que o PBOC os salva  mas depois este  nao se digna a atuar aos primeiros sinais de debilidade financeira dos bancos materializados em crises de liquidez temporarias ...
parece uma debilidade do sistema que recorre a expedientes que normalmente um sistema financeiro moderno nao necessita de usar mesmo que depois os bancos com este tipo de problemas sejam objecto de punicao financeira

[jeab]

É obra ... 

China planeia construir túnel de 123 Km num investimento de 26,5 mil milhões de euros

A China está a planear construir o maior túnel subaquático do mundo, com 123 quilómetros de extensão, entre os portos de Dalian e Yantai, no Mar de Bohai, nordeste do país, anunciou o China Daily.

 
A obra, orçada em 220.000 milhões de yuan (26.530 milhões de euros), poderá começar em 2015 ou 2016, adiantou o jornal.
 
Várias vezes mencionado nos planos de desenvolvimento regionais, o projeto será submetido à aprovação do governo central chinês em abril.
 
É o mais longo túnel subaquático do mundo - superior ao Túnel Seikan, no Japão,e ao Túnel do Canal da Mancha juntos - e alberga duas linhas de caminho-de-ferro em secções separadas, com 10 metros de diâmetro cada uma.
 
A distância entre Dalian e Yintai, que um ferry-boat demora atualmente oito horas a percorrer, e que por estrada equivale a uma viagem de 1.400 quilómetros, será reduzida para 40 minutos.
 
Os comboios, equipados para transportar pessoas e veículos, poderão circular a 220 kms/hora. O túnel será construído abaixo dos 30 metros de profundidade, sob rocha dura, disse um perito citado pelo China Daily.

http://www.oje.pt//noticias/negocios/china-planeia-construir-tunel-de-123-km-num-investimento-de-265-mil-milhoes-de-euros

[hermes]

Bundesbank, PBOC in Pact to Turn Frankfurt Into Renminbi Hub

By Angela Cullen and Weixin Zha
On March 28, 2014

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-03-27/frankfurt-sets-sights-on-yuan-offshore-trade-as-xi-visits-merkel

Germany’s Bundesbank and the People’s Bank of China agreed to cooperate in the clearing and settling of payments in renminbi, paving the way for Frankfurt to corner a share of the offshore market.

The central banks signed a memorandum of understanding in Berlin today, when Chinese President Xi Jinping met German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Frankfurt-based Bundesbank said in an e-mailed statement.

Germany’s financial capital prevailed over Paris and Luxembourg in a euro-area race to win trade in renminbi, which overtook the euro to become the second-most used currency in global trade finance in October, according to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. The U.K. Treasury said on March 26 that the Bank of England would sign an initial agreement with the PBOC on March 31 to clear and settle yuan transactions in London.

“Frankfurt is one of Europe’s foremost financial centers and home to two central banks, making it a particularly suitable location,” said Joachim Nagel, a member of the Bundesbank’s executive board. “Renminbi clearing will strengthen the close economic and financial ties between Germany and the People’s Republic of China.”

China is loosening exchange-rate controls in an overhaul of its $9 trillion economy. The accord follows the establishment of a 350 billion-yuan ($56 billion) and 45 billion-euro ($62 billion) bilateral swap line between the PBOC and the ECB in October, bolstering access to trade finance in the euro area.

Clearing Bank

A clearing bank will be designated to clear and settle the trades, the Bundesbank said.

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., Bank of China Ltd., Bank of Communications Co., Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. and China Construction Bank Corp. are Chinese banks with branches in Frankfurt.

“The establishment of renminbi clearing in Frankfurt is a major step forward for the export-oriented German Mittelstand,” said Wolfgang Kirsch, the chief executive officer of DZ Bank AG, referring to the thousands of small and medium-sized companies that form the backbone of Germany’s economy. “Institutional investors will also benefit from the improved access to renminbi trade.”

China was Germany’s third-biggest foreign trade partner last year, with 140 billion euros in turnover passing between the two countries, according to the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden. China ranks fifth among importers of German goods and is the second-biggest exporter to Germany.

Closer Ties

Deutsche Boerse AG, which operates the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, also signed an agreement with Bank of China, expanding a partnership that will make it easier for Chinese issuers and Asian investors to access European capital markets, including stock listings.

In a sign of closer economic ties between the two countries, China plans to open a fourth consulate in Germany this weekend in Dusseldorf, according to the city’s local chamber of commerce. About 800 Chinese companies have bases in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s industrial heartland. More than 300 of those are in Dusseldorf, where about 2,700 Chinese live, according to the city.

German companies including Siemens AG, the country’s biggest engineering company, and Volkswagen AG are embracing the renminbi internally as a third currency for cross-border trade settlements.

“The potential is vast,” said Stefan Harfich, the Siemens Financial Services manager, who steered the introduction of the yuan at the Munich-based company in October. “The introduction of the renminbi as an official company currency will therefore have a big impact on Siemens’s business in the coming years.”

Daimler AG, the Mercedes manufacturer that sold 235,644 autos in China last year, issued 500 million yuan of one-year notes in Asia’s largest economy on March 14, in the first so-called panda bond by an overseas non-financial company.

To contact the reporters on this story: Angela Cullen in Frankfurt at acullen8@bloomberg.net; Weixin Zha in Frankfurt at wzha2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stephen Foxwell at sfoxwell@bloomberg.net Mark Williams

[itg00022289]

China apreende 10,6 mil milhões de euros a familiares e colaboradores de antigo responsável chinês
PÚBLICO 30/03/2014 - 20:37
Mais de 300 pessoas com ligações a Zhou Yongkang - que foi membro do Comité Permanente do Politburo - foram inquiridas ou detidas.

 
Zhou Yongkang, o dirigente sob investigação

As autoridades chinesas apreenderam património no valor de mais de 90 mil milhões de yuans (10,6 mil milhões de euros) que pertencia a familiares e outras pessoas com ligações ao antigo responsável da segurança interna e um dos políticos mais influentes da China, Zhou Yongkang, que está no centro de um dos maiores escândalos de corrupção.

De acordo com fontes citadas pela Reuters, mais de 300 pessoas, entre familiares, aliados políticos, protegidos e membros do seu staff, foram detidas ou inquiridas nos últimos quatro meses.

A dimensão das apreensões e a escala das investigações que estão a ser levadas a cabo, e que até agora nunca tinham sido reveladas, transformam este num caso sem precedentes e mostram que o Presidente chinês, Xi Jinping, parece estar disposto a combater a corrupção ao mais alto nível. Mas pode também ser a resposta às posições tomadas por Zhou Yongkang, que se opôs à destituição do ex-político Bo Xilai, que em Setembro foi condenado a prisão perpétua por corrupção e abuso de poder.

Zhou, de 71 anos e que foi membro Comité Permanente do Politburo — a cúpula do poder na China —, está em prisão domiciliária desde o ano passado, quando começou a ser investigado.

Duas fontes contactadas pela Reuters afirmaram que os investigadores e o organismo de combate à corrupção do partido congelaram o acesso a contas bancárias no valor de 4,4 mil milhões de euros e apreenderam títulos e acções nacionais e estrangeiras no valor de seis mil milhões de euros, na sequência das buscas realizadas a várias casas nas cidades de Pequim e Xangai e em cinco províncias.

Os investigadores confiscaram ainda 300 apartamentos e casas, antiguidades, obras de arte contemporânea e 60 veículos. Entre os bens aprendidos, relata a Reuters, figuravam ainda ouro, prata e dinheiro em moeda nacional e estrangeira.

Os relatos revelam ainda que o património apreendido pertencia aos suspeitos detidos e que a maioria dos bens não estava em nome de Zhou Yongkang.

Ainda de acordo com as fontes citadas pela Reuters, mais de uma dezena de familiares de Zhou foi detida, incluindo a mulher, Jia Xiaoye, o seu filho mais velho de um outro casamento, Zhou Bin, os seus sogros e o irmão do antigo responsável pela pasta da segurança interna.

Sob investigação estão também cerca de uma dezena de pessoas que desempenharam cargos oficiais. Entre elas estão Jiang Jiemin, antigo presidente da PetroChina e da China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), o antigo vice-ministro da Segurança, Li Dongsheng, e Ji Wenlin, ex-vice governador da província de Hainan. Os meios de comunicação chineses noticiaram que estes três dirigentes estão a ser investigados e todos eram protegidos ou colaboradores de Zhou. A Reuters não conseguiu contactar nenhum dos três homens.

Mais de 20 guarda-costas, secretárias e motoristas de Zhou Yongkang foram detidos, e outros membros da sua família e colaboradores foram investigados.

No poder há pouco mais de um ano, o presidente chinês, Xi Jinping, prometeu travar uma batalha contra a corrupção, que considera uma das maiores ameaças ao domínio do partido, e varrer a hierarquia do poder de cima a baixo. Aquilo a que chamou “tigres” e “moscas”, referindo-se às grandes personalidades do regime e aos pequenos funcionários.

http://www.publico.pt/mundo/noticia/china-apreende-106-mil-milhoes-de-euros-a-familiares-e-colaboradores-de-antigo-responsavel-chines-1630385

[5555]

Amazing China! (Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen)

[JoaoAP]

16 factos extraordinários sobre a China

8:36 Domingo, 8 de Junho de 2014 |
0 comentários
Vinte milhões de árvores são cortadas todos anos para fazer os pauzinhos chineses

Mais de 80 mil milhões de pares de pauzinhos descartáveis são feitos por ano, na China. Com 20 centímetros de comprimento, os pauzinhos davam para cobrir a Praça Tiananmen, em Pequim, mais de 360 vezes. 

As linhas ferroviárias da China conseguiam dar duas voltas à Terra

O comprimento ferroviário da China é de 93 mil quilómetros e a Terra tem, no total, 40.075 quilómetros de circunferência logo, há mais linhas ferroviárias na China do que a circunferência do planeta.

As reservas de carvão da China pesam tanto como 575 milhões de baleias azuis

A China é responsável por 46% da produção mundial de carvão e 49% do consumo mundial sendo que tem a terceira maior reserva de carvão do mundo, com 115 mil milhões  de toneladas. A baleia azul pode pesar cerca de 200 toneladas.

Em dois anos, a China produziu mais cimento que os EUA num século

Em apenas dois anos, a China, que é o maior produtor de cimento do mundo, produziu mais cimento que os EUA no século XX. Atualmente, a China produz e consome cerca de 60% do cimento global. 

Um milhão de chineses morre, por ano, devido ao tabaco

Fumar mata mais pessoas que toda a população do Chipre (são aproximadamente 850 mil pessoas). A Organização Mundial de Saúde estima que, em 2050, o tabagismo matará 3 milhões de chineses por ano.

As reservas de gás natural da China são equivalentes a cerca de 1,24 mil milhões piscinas olímpicas

A China tem a 13ª maior reserva de gás natural do mundo. Uma piscina de tamanho olímpico, aproximadamente, tem um volume de 88 mil metros cúbicos.

O consumo de 'noodles' da China é suficiente para alimentar a Argélia

A China consumiu 42,5 bilhões de pacotes de 'noodles' em 2011, número suficiente para alimentar toda a Argélia, três refeições por dia, durante um ano. Argélia tem uma população de 38,7 milhões de pessoas.

A China come cerca de 5.200 Torres Eiffel, em carne de porco, por ano

A China consumiu 52 milhões de toneladas de carne suína em 2012 e 51,6 milhões de toneladas em 2011. A Torre Eiffel pesa 10 mil  toneladas.

As 20 pessoas mais ricas da China têm um património maior que o PIB da Hungria

Com um património liquido combinado de 145.100 milhões de dólares, a China tem um património maior que o PIB da Hungria.

Mais de 30 milhões de pessoas da China vivem em cavernas

Muitos dos habitantes de cavernas da China vivem na província de Shaanxi e são mais do que a população da Arábia Saudita. O presidente chinês Xi Jinping, supostamente, viveu numa caverna quando foi exilado para a província de Shaanxi, durante a Revolução Cultural.

Cerca de 8 mil milhões de pares de meias são feitas anualmente na China

Datang District, também conhecida como a cidade das meias, produz 8 mil milhões de pares de meias por ano, o que equivale a cerca de um par de meias por pessoa no planeta, em 2011.

Taxa de suicídio da China é mais do dobro que nos EUA

A China tem uma taxa de suicídio de cerca de 22,2 mortes por 100.000 pessoas, superior às 10,3 mortes por 100.000 pessoas, nos EUA.

China tem apenas um fuso horário

A China costumava ter cinco fusos horários diferentes, mas, em 1949, o Presidente Mao decidiu ter apenas um para promover a unidade nacional, o que significa que em algumas partes da China, o Sol pode nascer apenas às 10h.

O sistema alimentar da China alimenta quase 25% da população mundial com apenas 7% de terras aráveis

A produção agrícola total da China triplicou desde 1978 e o aumento da produção pecuária, em particular, é ainda mais vertiginoso.

Os gastos dos consumidores chineses vão triplicar até 2020

A China será o maior mercado de luxo global em 2020.

Metade dos porcos do mundo reside na China

A China é a maior consumidora de carne de porco do mundo, por isso é que 475 milhões de porcos, ou seja, metade dos suínos do mundo residem lá.

Ler mais: http://visao.sapo.pt/16-factos-extraordinarios-sobre-a-china=f783545#ixzz343V09p4R

[hermes]

Russian companies prepare to pay for trade in renminbi

By Jack Farchy and Kathrin Hille
Last updated: June 8, 2014 9:10 pm

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/9f686816-ed51-11e3-abf3-00144feabdc0.html

Russian companies are preparing to switch contracts to renminbi and other Asian currencies amid fears that western sanctions may freeze them out of the US dollar market, according to two top bankers.

“Over the last few weeks there has been a significant interest in the market from large Russian corporations to start using various products in renminbi and other Asian currencies and to set up accounts in Asian locations,” Pavel Teplukhin, head of Deutsche Bank in Russia, told the Financial Times.

Andrei Kostin, chief executive of state bank VTB, said that expanding the use of non-dollar currencies was one of the bank’s “main tasks”.

“Given the extent of our bilateral trade with China, developing the use of settlements in roubles and yuan [renminbi] is a priority on the agenda, and so we are working on it now,” he told Russia’s President Vladimir Putin during a briefing. “Since May, we have been carrying out this work.”

The move to open accounts to trade in renminbi, Hong Kong dollars or Singapore dollars highlights Russia’s attempt to pivot towards Asia as its relations with Europe become strained.

Sanctions are pushing Russian companies to reduce their dependence on western financial markets while US and European banks have dramatically slowed their lending activity in Russia since the annexation of Crimea in March.

The central bank is working to create a national payment system to reduce the country’s dependence on western companies such as Visa and MasterCard.

“There is nothing wrong with Russia trying to reduce its dependency on the dollar, actually it is an entirely reasonable thing to do,” said the Russia head of another large European bank. He added that Russia’s large exposure to the dollar subjects it to more market volatility in times of crisis. “There is no reason why you have to settle trade you do with Japan in dollars,” he said.

The chief executive of a Russian manufacturer that derives 70 per cent of its revenues from export in US dollars said his company had done the groundwork to move its contract settlements to different currencies in the event of further sanctions. “If something happens, we are ready to switch to other currencies, for example to the Chinese yuan or the Hong Kong dollar,” he said.

Alexander Dyukov, chief executive of Gazprom’s oil division, has said that the company has discussed with its customers the possibility of shifting contracts out of dollars, while Norilsk Nickel told the FT that it was discussing denominating long-term contracts with Chinese consumers in renminbi.

“It looks like this is not just a blip, this is a trend,” said Mr Teplukhin of Deutsche Bank. He added that Russian companies were able to hedge the risk of further US sanctions by “changing the letter of their contracts to allow them to change currency if it is necessary”.

Some politicians have suggested Moscow should respond to western sanctions by entirely “de-dollarising” its economy.

But while in recent discussions with big business about how to make the economy less vulnerable the government has advocated listing back home and settling more trade in currencies other than the dollar, it has rejected more extreme measures.

“As long as Russia is not subject to systemic sanctions, which could bring an artificial limit to our economy’s access to dollars . . . then I don’t think Russia will take any steps in order to bring about artificial de-dollarisation,” said Andrei Belousov, economic adviser to Mr Putin.

[Incognitus]

Consumo de cimento na China. Insustentável.

[vbm]

Interessante ... GDP Americano sensivelmente o dobro do Chinês, mas com uma diferença grande no crescimento, 1,7% nos States contra 9,28% na China.

Surpreendente seria o inverso.

[hermes]

There is no rush like a gold rush, and no run like a bank run.

Central banks shift into shares as low rates hit revenues

By Ralph Atkins in London
June 15, 2014 6:43 pm

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/d9dfad02-f462-11e3-a143-00144feabdc0.html

Central banks around the world, including China’s, have shifted decisively into investing in equities as low interest rates have hit their revenues, according to a global study of 400 public sector institutions.

“A cluster of central banking investors has become major players on world equity markets,” says a report to be published this week by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (Omfif), a central bank research and advisory group. The trend “could potentially contribute to overheated asset prices”, it warns.

Central banks are traditionally conservative and secretive managers of official reserves. Although scant details are available of their holdings Omfif’s first “Global Public Investor” survey points out they have lost revenues in recent years as a result of low interest rates – which they slashed in response to the global financial crisis.

The report, seen by the Financial Times, identifies $29.1tn in market investments, including gold, held by 400 public sector institutions in 162 countries.

Central banks’ actions aimed at stimulating economies, including quantitative easing, have deliberately sought to push investors into riskier assets, and share prices have risen sharply since 2009 – leading to fears of stock market corrections if economic growth disappoints.

China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange has become “the world’s largest public sector holder of equities”, according to officials quoted by Omfif. Safe, which manages $3.9tn, is part of the People’s Bank of China. “In a new development, it appears that PBoC itself has been directly buying minority equity stakes in important European companies,” Omfif adds.

A chapter in the report on Chinese foreign investment trends argues Safe’s interest in Europe is “partly strategic” because it “counters the monopoly power of the dollar” and reflects Beijing’s global financial ambitions.

In Europe, the Swiss and Danish central banks are among those investing in equities. The Swiss National Bank has an equity quota of about 15 per cent. Omfif quotes Thomas Jordan, SNB’s chairman, as saying: “We are now invested in large, mid- and small-cap stocks in developed markets worldwide.” The Danish central bank’s equity portfolio was worth about $500m at the end of last year.

Overall, the Omfif report says “global public investors” have increased investments in publicly quoted equities “by at least $1tn in recent years” – without saying from what level, or how the figure is split between central banks and other public sector investors such as sovereign wealth funds and pension funds.

Growth in countries’ official reserves has increased fears about potential risks to global financial stability. In a contribution to the Omfif report, Ted Truman, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, writes: “Reforms are urgently needed to enhance the domestic and international transparency and accountability for this activity – in the interests of a better-functioning world economy.”

He adds: “Changes, real or rumoured, in the asset or currency composition of foreign exchange reserves have the potential to destabilise exchange rate and financial markets.”

Central banks around the world have foregone between $200bn and $250bn in interest income as a result of the fall in bond yields in recent years, Omfif calculates, without giving details. “This has been partly offset by reduced payments of interest on the liabilities side of the balance sheets,” it adds.

[Incognitus]

Com os bancos centrais a comprar acções directamente então isto vai tudo para a lua.