financial Times (FT) on China

choi

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(A)
(1) Jamil Anderlini, Rule of the iron rooster; As strong growth resumes,
concerns are rising about the legacy of a government stimulus that is
boosting infracture, property and equities but does little to help jobs or
exports. FT, Aug. 25, 2009.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f41d5786-910d-11de-bc99-00144feabdc0.html

(i) caption to a photographs of Chinese workers at a rail junction: "On
track: workers finish a Wuhan rail link that creates Asia's biggest
marshalling yard. The network is about to eclipse that of Inida.

(ii) An illustration:

"Transport trajectory

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Existing~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Proposed
Railway network
km
China~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~80,000~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~20,000
US~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~226,000

High-speed roads
km
China~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~60,000~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~120,000
US~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~75,000

Passenger vehicles
China~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~38m
US~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~230m


(iii) Quote:

(a) "'Everyone privately thinks this is an asset bubble driven purely by
liquidity,' says a senior executive at a Chinese investment bank. 'Those in
the private sector who have been able to get loans from the state banks are
mostly keeping it for a rainy day or speculating on the stock and property
markets; very little is going into the real economy.'

"Of the rest that has gone that way, the bulk has been to state companies
and government-backed infrastructure projects, particularly the tiegong-ji
or "iron rooster" - a homonym for the Chinese words for rail, roads and
airports. The huge projects have revived demand for steel, concrete and
other raw materials but this kind of capital-intensive state investment
creates relatively few jobs. Yet over the next three years, the railways
ministry plans to add 20,000km of track to the existing 80,000km, with a
total investment of more than Rmb2,000bn. At this rate, China's rail network
will this year overtake that of India to become the second-longest in the
world, just behind the US.

(b) "Some officials say the most worrying element of the infrastructure-
heavy stimulus package is the fixation with building airports. For instance,
the town of Jiaxing in eastern Zhejiang province is roughly an hour's drive
on brand new expressways from three of the country's busiest international
airports - two in Shanghai and one in the city of Hangzhou. In spite of this
proximity, and a planned high-speed rail line connecting Shanghai and
Hangzhou, the Jiaxing government has decided to build a commercial airport
on the site of a military landing strip, with an estimated investment of
Rmb300m.

(c) "Aged 42, Chen Guangming has spent half his life as a migrant worker in
China's big northern cities but at the end of last year became one of an
estimated 23m who lost their jobs and returned home to the villages. "This
year it is much harder to find work and I spent most of the year waiting in
my village until some relatives told me about this job," he says, indicating
the construction site where he is paid Rmb70 for a 10-hour day.

(d) "At a talent fair next to Beijing's ancient Lama Temple, 24-year-old
Peng Chuan, who graduated with a degree in English in July 2008, has lowered
his sights and is looking for work as a waiter. 'Salaries in the private
sector have fallen so much but some of my classmates managed to get jobs in
the government by leveraging their family connections,' he says.

"Competition is fierce these days and landing a secure post requires many to
pull strings or offer inducements to those who vet the applicants. "I had a
chance to work in a bureau at the railway ministry but I would have had to
pay Rmb100,000 to get the job and my family couldn't afford that," adds Mr
Peng.

My comment: There is no need to read the rest.


(2) Paul Surtees, Letter to editor: The view from China’s iron rooster. FT,
Aug. 27 2009.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3041a6ce-92a1-11de-b63b-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1


(B) China Goes shopping; The tastes of a new class of suddenly wealthy
Chinese are reshaping global trade--and putting a strain on resources. FT,
Aug. 22, 2009 (title in the print).
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/9271a266-8d21-11de-a540-00144feabdc0.html

My comment: Please read two sections only, with headings:
(a) “Penny pinching, ruthless, suspicious shoppers”
(b) Big cars, flashy cars

In the print, these are the first and second sections; in the web version,
however, these became the last and first sections, respectively.

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