Well folks – it is time to get more information on the new leaders in China — after all they are going to be presiding over one fo the largest economies in the world and hold the power to really impact the world economy based on their actions.  With that in mind I turned to the Chinese Internet resources and tried to find as many possible articles and background information on Mr. Xi Jinping — with a great article from OffBeatChina.com

Number 1:  The famous Volkswagen SANTANA that all of us China hands have seen on the streets of various Chinese cities and villages, ridden in by ways of a taxi ride, is having a new look – after 29 years of production !!!  Can you imagine this?  a car model that has survived as a selling vehicle for 29 YEARS!

I looked hard through my photo database and could not find an image — big surprise — sometimes I feel the ubiquitous taxi is in each of my photos from Beijing or Shanghai….. At any rate, since I could not find one quickly I found an image of an old one on the web, and here it is:

And here it is (below) the new look of the next generation SANTANA:

Number 2: China and the US are in trade talks again.  Now that the new Chinese leadership is in power, one can wonder what impact that will have on the next iteration of China-US trade relations…

Here are some commentaries from the BBC:

These talks are happening at the same time that China is searching for ways to reduce its reliance on exports for the foundation of its economic growth and the country's focus on propping up the middle class — the growing set of people capable of becoming solid consumers and drivers of economic growth for the country.

This is also a time when China is focusing increasing effort on improving its urban planning — based on statistics I have seen in the Chinese media, the urban population of the country is finally exceeding the rural one — with this change over occuring in 2012.   By some predictions China will have 70% of its population living in major urban areas by year 2030 — this is a very big deal as the country has to figure out how to build cities with stable and functioning infrastructre (think about the floods and drownings that happened in Beijing just a few months ago) to support such urban growth.

Oh, well, I think the Chinese government will come up with a solution — not sure it will be the most "elegant" one but it will be there… Thoughts?

"…CoTA-hosted events are projected to generate an annual economic impact of $400 million to $500 million, equating to $4 billion to $5 billion over 10 years for Texas. The CoTA-hosted FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX™ will attract as many as 300,000 people each Grand Prix weekend, with an estimated 80 percent of attendees coming from outside Texas."  (Source: http://circuitoftheamericas.com/economic-impact)

The venue is pretty amazing — here are links to information you may need (from CoTA's web site):

• Parking map
• Transportation to the venue

And here are some pretty good videos to give you a view of CoTA

Amazingly the F1 race in Austin over this weekend was broadcasted to a huge number of worldwide viewers.  Here is a YouTube video from one of those international viewers:

Well, if you are interested in more info, drop us a line — will give you the insider view — the Austinite view of the topic

In speaking with friends of mine in Shanghai, the Xiaomi has certainly caught attention – even among the expat community.  This smartphone is going to be sold at RMB1999 which is about one half of the price of the iPhone!

Here is a link to the company and phone

At the same time there are reports showing that the ODI is not all smooth sailing for the Chinese investors.  Per report published by People's Daily,   "By the end of last year, China suffered a net loss of $26.8 billion in overseas investments," said Zhou Zhongshu, vice president of the China International Council for the Promotion of Multinational Corporations, at a Beijing conference in late June 2012.

One example of this is the investment Geely Automotive made in Manganese Bronze – the manufacturer of London's well known taxi cab vehicles…..Now you can see those on the streets of Beijing…Here is one (courtesy of Shanghai List)

Now, the key question is "Why the strong growth of investments?"  In my view this is very heavily driven by the strategy of the Chinese companies and Chinese Government to build up its Intellectual Property (IP) portfolio –  no better way to do so.   The ODI and M&A activites are adding significant access for the Chinese entities to both European market and IP rights which in the future will provide nice platform for expansion into the global market.

First a YouTube video on a brief statistics on the top countries producers of reneable energy in the world

How did China accomplished the first place?  Well through a number of huge projects that created a major disruption in the lives of many but certainly brought to reality some huge projects.  Here is another video from YouTube that covers some of these mega projects:

This is also an interesting dialog with one of the experts tracking the global investments in Energy generation:

And what Portland Oregon is implementing….

All about reducing road congestion, cleaning the air, and offering opportunities for fun and exercise!!!

This morning I was greeted by a news article from the Xinhua news agency — the title read " Beijing deploys 7,000 police to ensure smooth traffic for college entrance exams"

The actual news summary is listed below

I remember the days when I was near a test site — a school building usually and the many parents milled outside and of course your friendly police folks who did not allow taxis or personal or company cars to drive by the site as that was a disturbance in terms of noise etc.   Honestly that used to be rather amusing to me — but then I thought about the HUGE ramifications the Gao Kao had on the students taking it and all of sudden I thought — OK, fine, I will conform   and walk on tip toes too by the building…

By some estimates there are about 9-million students taking the exam.   I came across this BBC article on-line that actually has a bunch of videos that can give you a good view of the exam and its importance in the life in China:

The big question though that gets debate a lot in China across all layers of society is whether the Gao Kao really / truly shows the aptitude of students for a given profession and/or major.  There is a lot of discusion about the fact that in their daily preparations for university majority of students focus too much on the actual exam and the techniques to achieve a better score rather than on actual learning…. Oh, well that I think is the age old debate.  But for sure there could be some better way to approach the entrance exams than the mass hysteria and big psychological impact the current Gao Kao has on students and parents.

Here are several of them

From the Guardian China is aiming to put more than a million electric vehicles onto the road each year by 2015, according to the state-run People's Daily. It claims that new plans for the auto industry are about to be published and will make "new energy" – electric and hybrid electric – vehicles a national priority.	From the New York Times: TIANJIN, China — Chinese leaders have adopted a plan aimed at turning the country into one of the leading producers of hybrid and all-electric vehicles within three years, and making it the world leader in electric cars and buses after that.
From Wall Street Journal SHENZHEN, China — It would seem like a lousy time to get into the car business, especially if you're a little-known company in the developing world. No start-up has grown into a major auto maker in at least half a century. Wang Chuanfu, the founder and chairman of BYD Co., 1211.HK -0.65%a Chinese battery and car maker, thinks he's got a shot.	And here you can find a special report on Electric Vehicle Charging Stations — please see at this link
One of the Key Players in the Electric Car manufacturing push in China is BYD — Link to their Web site	BYD Electric Car

So these were the big plans — reading through the articles above you can see all sort of big plans — build and sell up to 500K electric cars per year in China by 2015

Subsequently ramp up to 5M vehicles per year by 2020!!!  So very ambitious plans no doubt. 

The reality today is VERY DIFFERENT — BYD has apparently sold only 300 taxis and 200 electric busses in Shenzhen.  So WHY is that?

The answer is actually closer to being simple than you think.   All in all electric cars are VERY expensive.   According to some estimates BYD's vehicles will have to drop 40% in price before they become a real alternative to fuel powered vehicles….And then there are many other hurdles like life of batteries' sizes, weight and reliability…

So all in all this has been a bit of a PR disaster since the promise of electric vehicles, green and energy use reductions, were made so public and garnererd so much attention that rebuffing now will be a problem by itsel                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

In conclusion — is the idea still valid?  YES (resounding)!!!   The big question is - when will these costs etc go down so we can all buy an electric car and be NICE!

• The taxi cab driver was a young guy (not actually a surprise but it became one once paired with the second item)
• The driver had all sort of Lei Feng memorabilia in his car — a sticker on the steering wheel, a flag with Lei Feng's face hanging from the rear view mirror, etc.

So, I could not exactly miss the opportunity to chat with the driver about this.  I had not seen or heard about Lei Feng since the early 1990s when I was a student in China.  

Then I also came across a whole set of media write-ups and TV articles on the subject.  Here is a video clip from CCTV :

Then I came across a whole Web site dedicated to Lei Feng.  I decided — this is getting too much — but then I thought about it and sure enough – it makes sense.  The Chinese authorities certainly need a role model and a social stimulus that can divert attention from all the Western influences of brands (I wonder how many Chinese can spell many of the fancy brands well — I bet many) to the "wholesome aspect of self sacrifice" for the community and country.

Here is one more video — this time on Lei Feng's story:

This phenomenon is certainly having a new effect in China – you may not notice it immediately but there are certainly attempts by the local and Central Gov't to get people acting accordingly.  I have seen enough public medical check stations across Beijing (and other cities), also organized clean up efforts, to know that the attempts are being made….

Now if we can only figure out a way in which Lei Feng is also impemented in business?  How about we institute a day when vendors and customers work for each other   Just kidding…