The illustration is of a woman praying at Longhua Temple on the second day of the Chinese Year of the Rat. Traditionally The Year of the Rat marks a period of conquest – which is possibly what business leaders have in mind

William Hess, Beijing-based analyst for Global Insight, says: ‘The government has taken a liking to the concept of national champions, and wants to see globally competitive Chinese firms emerge in the sectors that it associates with national strength. This certainly includes the automotive sector, pharmaceuticals, and natural resources.

‘I expect to see more acquisitions by financial firms, and efforts by the government to position its homegrown technology-related firms as global players — especially in networking equipment with companies like Huawei, and in mobile phones.’

Lenovo’s finance chief Wong Wai-ming said that the computer giant will be pursuing acquisitions this year. ‘We have cash and virtually no borrowing. We also have the track record to raise the necessary debt equity. It there is the right investment opportunity, we are capable of doing it and we will do it.’

So far, there have been two types of Chinese international expansion running in parallel. A strategic expansion, and a knowledge expansion. The first expansion involves government-backed moves to secure supplies of resources like iron ore, oil, and coal, and to invest Beijing’s vast sovereign wealth fund.

The second involves smaller Chinese companies seeking out Western assets — often distressed ones — to acquire expertise and technology.

At last month’s Detroit Motor Show, the world’s biggest, there were five Chinese carmakers displaying their models. The car-makers do not match Western-style quality control. But then neither did the Japanese three decades ago.
Source: Daily Telegraph

Indonesian Ambassador to China Maj. Gen. (ret) Sudrajat reports that trade volume between Indonesia and China reached $25 billion in 2007, up 30% from the previous years.

The ambassador told a press conference after meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (seen in our illustration) at the State Palace the figure exceeded the goal of $20 billion set for 2008.

During the meeting he said the president was optimistic the target of $30 billion trade volume of the two countries in 2010 could be achieved earlier in 2009.

The ambassador said that the optimism was based on the growth last year.

He said, ‘In 2007, our imports were $12.6 billion, and exports were $12.4 billion’

In 2005, the Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao launched a strategic partnership. The two leaders targeted $20 billion bilateral trade volumes.
Source: China View

The Ministry of Finance said adjustments to import and export duties have ‘played a positive role’ in containing the country’s expanding trade surplus. In a statement posted on its website, the ministry said China’s trade surplus growth slowed markedly the second half as a result of the measures taken.

The ministry said that from August to October, China exports’ year-on-year growth was 6.1 percentage points lower compared to the first seven months of the year, while trade surplus growth decreased by 50 percentage points.

Since November 2006, China has cut import duties several times on products the country needs urgently while beginning to levy or increase taxes on exports of natural resources or products whose manufacture is energy-intensive or highly polluting.

China — previously a net coal exporter — became a net importer in the first 10 months this year, due to lower import taxes, the ministry added.

The General Administration of Customs said earlier this month that China recorded a trade surplus of $26.28 billion in November, up 14.7% year-on-year. The figure was up 52.2% to $238.13 billion in the first 11 months.

Exports rose 22.8% year-on-year to $117.62 billion in November and 26.1% in the first 11 months to $1.1036 trillion. The illustration ciomes from China Venture News which probably had the same problem finding an appropriate illustration as we did.