Jet Li in Davos for the World Economic Summit!

Amazing to see Jet Li representing his causes at Davos, Switzerland, rubbing shoulders with the rich and powerful leaders of the world.

Chandni Chowk to China...crazy Bollywood Kung Fu!

This is showing at my local independent cinema...From the hustle-bustle of Chandni Chowk to the hutongs of Beijing, the electric energy of Shanghai and sheer breathtaking Chinese landscapes, "Chandni Chowk to China" chronicles the lunatic adventures of a hapless simpleton cook from Delhi. As he goes to seek his destiny, he finds himself thrown into a crazy world of megalomaniac villains, femme fatales, crazy inventors, Chinese mysticism and outlandish kung-fu assassins!

China still growing...

Despite the downturn in the world economy a newswire I read today made me raise an eyebrow. Market research firm, iSuppli, said that China has defied the expected 5 percent global decline in mobile handset shipments.

Instead, China’s domestic wireless phone market is projected to increase by 7 percent in 2009! That means the Chinese are expected to continue to buy phones even when their jobs might be threatened this year as global consumption (of Chinese-made goods) falls. That's some 90 million new subscribers in 2009?!

Handout How could this be? First, I heard on NPR that only one third of China's production is for export, so it's not as exposed to the global freefall as we in the West might think. The rest of production is to "feed" the Chinese market of one billion people. Second, China’s three mobile operators are offering discounts and the government is even lending a hand (after all it's still Communist China) as it ponies up subsidies to keep the consumers spending!

But it's not all a bed of roses for China's mobile industry according to The Register who know their CDMA from their W-CDMA :)

China has the biggest casino industry in the world

Did you know that Macau, the old Portuguese colony off the coast of Hong Kong, has become wealthier than the whole of Nevada due to the casino entertainment business?! Next year it expects to benefit from relaxed visa rules for mainland Chinese so stocks have soared whilst the Hong Hong stock exchange has seen turbulence.

Ironically, the boom is because the Nevada brands that we know and love (think Wynn, and the world's largest casino from The Venetian...) have invested in Macau after it was handed back to China in 1997 after 400 years of Portuguese rule. Although Macau is part of China now, not all the money goes into Chinese pockets as it still operates under "one country, two systems." But still, China is one of the hottest gambling destinations on earth. Wow!

When I was younger, Macau was already a gambling (and all that goes with that) haven because, apart from the prestigous Hong Kong Jockey, there was nowhere legal to have a bet. Folks were even betting illegally on things like video games in the 80s?!

Lighthearted Here's a little amusing story about MC Barry from Liverpool. He's a cabaret singer in Macau who is a novelty because he sings in Mandarin! That's heart!

The BBC box hits China

Money's what makes the world go round...So, the BBC is following a cargo container around world for a year to tell stories of globalisation and the world economy. For the first journey the box traveled more than 10,000 nautical miles - from Greenock, Scotland, via Southampton and along the Suez Canal, Egypt and Singapore. Watch the BBC news report here.

The BBC box arrived on Wednesday at the Yangshan port in China, one of the biggest on the planet (and so busy it's getting an artificial island in the East China Sea for its newest container terminal). Inside the box was 15,000 bottles of 12-year-old Chivas Scotch (from, um, Scotland) destined for the bars of Shanghai.

5mins to spare Watch this Google Map of the cargo's journey.

U.S. slow down But, cargo shipping has suddenly become a lot cheaper as U.S. demand for goods has slackened so ships are sailing back half full (sending the box back to Southampton will cost a third less than last year). Wait a minute - don't you think we should begin to live in a more "macrobiotic-friendly" way - i.e. consume more local stuff, or at least stuff less traveled. It'll definitely be more expensive in the short-term but it's the only way forward.

Here's a crazy example of what's happening. Most Alaskan salmon is caught, quickly frozen and then *shipped to China* for preparation (fileting, boning etc.) before being shipped back to the U.S.!? Do you think that's excessive?

No holding back With up to 250 million middle-class Chinese consumers waiting their turn to join the consumer bandwagon simple things like Marks & Spencer's digestive biscuits are in demand. "Prices in Marks and Spencer are fine for me - considering quality," says one male shopper. "But I am more careful with my spending these days. Our earnings just aren't as stable as they used to be when the economy had double digit growth."

China stands strong Here's an amazing factoid. Even though there's a worldwide slowdown predictions are that China's burgeoning middle-class can help China maintain strong growth. "If the economy is growing well globally then China can grow at 12%, if it boosts consumption, but if the rest of the world is not doing so well, they can still grow at 9%, which ain't bad," says Access Asia's Paul French.

China's factories are closing

Unemployment is becoming a Chinese issue

During the McCain presidential campaign we've heard about all the money that the Middle-East is hoarding due to America's oil dependence and how the US owes the China trillions of dollars.

That's one side of the story and both those countries are in the black, rather than the red. But it's not all rosy. In China, where I never really thought people would ever be unemployed, the US-based, but global recession is starting to bite.

Fo' real, or not fo' real?

I love new gadgets, but there's never a "right time" to buy. Now it seems, you may not even be buying the real thing?!

Nokia's latest mobile phones have appeared on eBay this week. The N96 (US$500+) and Sapphire Arte (US$1,000) mobile phone handsets are being listed for "way below the market price." Uh, an obvious hint that they're fake?!



Surprising to me is the role Dubai plays in the trade of bogus goods. It seems that the UAE is a known hub for traffiking goods from China to the West. Known as the "dragon market" it's described as "the biggest trading port for Chinese traders outside China."

Nokia UK's managing director, Simon Ainslie, told Mobile magazine, "We take [counterfeit products] very seriously. Copied phones still exist and our intellectual property team are always investigating them."

Here is a blatant advert for a website that supplies the bogus gadgets.



Helpful links
How to detect fake Nokias