Wenzhou + Mexico

choi

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My comment: There is no startling revelation in either report; just what we have known all along, for the past year or so.

(1) Simon Rabinovitch, Manufacturers in Wenzhou Adapt to the Changing Times; China industries; Producers focus on improved quality as rising labour costs squeeze margins. Financial Times, July 11, 2011 (title in print).
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d2fa5d16-aadc-11e0-b4d8-00144feabdc0.html

Quote:

"Five years ago, 80 per cent of the world’s lighters were produced in Wenzhou, and many of the world’s shoes and spectacles too. The city’s share of the global lighter market remains large but is losing ground, having slipped to about 70 per cent.

"Wanshun [Glasses] produced 2m glasses at its peak a few years ago and was now down to annual output of 500,000, focusing on making better frames that could fetch a higher price, he [its manager] said.

Down the road, the manager of Weihong Women’s Shoes

Note:
(a) Wenzhou Zhongbang Smoking Set Co, Ltd  温州市中邦烟具制造有限公司
http://wzzhongbang.cn.alibaba.com/
(b) Wenzhou Wanshun Glasses Co, Ltd  温州市万顺眼镜有限公司

(2) Randal C Archibald, Despite Violence, Mexico Plants Hum at Border; Drug wars, shootouts and a fear of random death, but also a jobs surge. New York Times, July 11, 2011 (title in print).
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/11/world/americas/11matamoros.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=mexico%20war&st=cse

Quote:

"Over all, jobs in Mexico’s manufacturing sector increased 8.2 percent to 1.8 million as of January, the most recent figures available, driven mostly by what Mexican officials called regaining health in the auto and electronics industries, the engine of the economy along the border. * * * Mostly American-owned and in border states, the plants import raw materials duty free and export assembled products

"Foxconn, a Taiwanese firm that makes iPhones, Dell computers and other electronics, is one of several Asian companies taking root. It opened a plant in Juárez last summer.

"Business is business, and the proximity to the United States is hard to pass up. The rising cost of labor, transportation and the renminbi have made some companies reconsider Mexico instead of China, he [Bob Cook, the president of the El Paso Regional Economic Development Commission [sic]] contended. * * * 'Central location, great infrastructure, suppliers and labor pool,' he said.

Note:
(a) "The name Matamoros, meaning Moor-killer or Moor-slayer in Spanish, * * *"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matamoros

, refers to the only border city in Mexico of that name:
Matamoros, Tamaulipas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matamoros,_Tamaulipas
(on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from Brownsville, Texas)

I double check. Spellman does has plants at Matamoros, Tamaulipas.

(b) maquiladora (n; Mexican Spanish from maquilar to process (material) for a fee):
" a foreign-owned factory in Mexico at which imported parts are assembled by lower-paid workers into products for export"
www.m-w.com
(c) El Paso Regional Economic Development Corporation (REDCo)
http://www.elpasoredco.org/about
("a nonprofit corporation providing confidential, no-fee consultation to businesses interested in relocating or expanding their operations to El Paso, Texas; Cd. Juárez, México; and Southern New Mexico region")

The NYT report erroneously identifies it as "El Paso Regional Economic Development Commission"--the word commission sounds official.
(d) Hauppauge, New York
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hauppauge,_New_York
(a hamlet in Suffolk County, Long Island of New York state; Its name derives from the Native American Algonquian term for "overflowed land.")


-----------------------------Separately
(1) Alexandra Berzon, Red Carpet for the Chinese; Hotels Add Menu Items, Translators, Other Services for Growing Travel Segment. Wall Street Journal, July 11, 2011.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304584404576438230384628772.html

Note:
(a) porridge (n; alteration of pottage)

* pottage (n; Middle English potage, from Anglo-French, from pot "pot"):
"a thick soup of vegetables and often meat"
(b) congee (n; Tamil kañci water from cooked rice; First Known Use: 1930):
"porridge made from rice"
(c) Headquartered in White Plains, New York, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide started out in 1991 as Starwood Capital Partners, a real estate acquisition company.
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/corporate/careers/who/history.html
(d) kettle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kettle
(d) fried dough fritters 油條, 油炸鬼

fritter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritter
(e) The report states:

"According to the U.S. Travel Association, 802,000 mainland Chinese residents visited the U.S. in 2010, a 53% increase over the prior year. In 2005 just 270,000 Chinese people visited the U.S. The Department of Commerce expects those numbers to reach 994,000 in 2011.

"Japanese visitation in 2010 was much larger—around 3.1 million. Yet the trends are divergent. From 2006 through 2009 travel from Japan declined each year, finally in 2009 reaching the lowest point since 1988, according to the Travel Association.

Do not forget the Great Recession, which hit Japan especially hard but China not much (for now, due to loose credits).

(2) Beware: Flood Spreads Missile-Like Silver Carp in Delta. Clarion-Ledger, July 9, 2011. http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20110710/SPORTS08/107100329/Beware-Flood-spreads-missile-like-silver-carp-Delta

Note:
(a) Founded in 1831, The Clarion-Ledger is a daily newspaper based in Jackson, Mississippi.

clarion (instrument)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarion_(instrument)

Here is a photo of claron
in Dr. Yosef Gotlieb,  Gore’s Clarion Call. Green Prophet, Mar 4, 2011.
http://www.greenprophet.com/2010/03/gore%e2%80%99s-clarion-call/
(b) Hypophthalmichthys molitrix. Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (NAS), US geologic Survey, Department of Interior, undated.
http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?speciesID=549

※ 修改:．choi 于 Jul 11 14:34:44 修改本文．[FROM: 129.10.0.0]