China Stocks are Government Stocks

Eight of the ten largest stocks on the Shanghai Stock Exchange are nothing but state-controlled companies:

• PetroChina
• Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
• Sinopec
• Bank of China
• China Shenhua Energy Company
• China Life Insurance Company
• Bank of Communications

Source: Wikipedia etc.

China Executes More Than 3 Times as Many People as the Rest of the World Combined

“[China carries out] almost three times as many as the rest of the world put together, according to the most conservative estimate by Amnesty International. In 2008, the group confirmed 1,718 executions through news reports and public documents, but many others are not reported. Some analysts say the figure may be above 6,000. The exact number is a state secret.”

Many executions are done on the road using vehicles such as those designed by Jinguan Motors:

“Makers of the death vans say the vehicles and injections are a civilized alternative to the firing squad, ending the life of the condemned more quickly, clinically and safely. The switch from gunshots to injections is a sign that China “promotes human rights now,” says Kang Zhongwen, who designed the Jinguan Automobile death van in which “Devil” Zhang took his final ride.”

Source: The Guardian, USA Today

Going Bust in China

“According to a report issued last week by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, 20 per cent of small businesses had crashed and another 20 per cent went “to the brink of bankruptcy” during the climax of the global financial crisis from October 2008 to March last year.

“According to my research, to date, most of the 20 per cent on the brink of failure have been revived thanks to the recovering economy,” said Chen Naixing, economist and director of the academy’s small business research centre.”

Source: The Australian (Jan 2010)

China’s Military

China has about 3.4 million active military personnel compared to America’s 1.4 million. Moreover, in some key spaces, China might even have a tech advantage:

“After years of conjecture, details have begun to emerge of a “kill weapon” developed by the Chinese to target and destroy U.S. aircraft carriers.

Chinese Bloggers

Chinese internet users are five times as likely to have blogs as Americans.

Yet these prolific bloggers are under the watchful eye of an internet police army:

“Although the existence of an internet police force – estimated at more than 30,000 – has been known for some time, attention has previously focused on their work as censors and monitors. Countless critical comments appear on bulletin boards of major portals such as Sohu and Sina only to be erased minutes, or sometimes just seconds, later. In the most recent case, all postings that blamed corrupt local officials or slow-moving police for the deaths of 88 children in floods last Friday were removed almost as soon as they appeared.”

Not Enough Oil for China

If the Chinese, one day, use as much oil per person as Americans, then the world will need seven more Saudi Arabias to meet their demand.

China Fact- Terra Cotta Warriors

China Fact-Huge Cities

“[By 2025,] 40 billion square meters of floor space will be built — in five million buildings. 50,000 of these buildings could be skyscrapers — the equivalent of ten New York Cities.”

Source: Mckinsey, “Preparing for China’s urban billion”

Picking Trash in China

HELP! Cant Post via email!

Can anyone help, I am in China and have been blogging by email but about 4 days ago it cut off, I cannot blog using my email. Can anyone help, wordpress has not helped yet, and as I live in China I am afraid I will lose my proxy and be cut off. Thanks!!!