California China Relations

Here's the latest on relations between California and China, now that the aggressive "Year of the Tiger" is in full swing.  Don't be afraid to look deep into the eye of the tiger, but watch out for those claws.

High-Speed Chinafornia?

China has signed cooperation agreements (preliminary) with the State of California and General Electric to assist in building high-speed rail lines across the Golden State, as Beijing claws to become California's supplier of Chinese 215 mile per hour bullet trains.

"We are the most advanced in many fields, and we are willing to share with the U.S.," said Zheng Jian of the Chinese Railway Ministry.  China is also willing to "help" finance the California construction.

China is not the only country hoping to sell its high-speed rail equipment to the US.  Germany, Japan, South Korea, Spain, Italy and France have also approached the rail authority in California High-Speed Rail Authority. No definitive choice has yet been made, but I'm pulling for an actual DEMOCRACY to get the contract.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger hopes to pay a visit later this year for talks with China's rail ministry, which has a worldwide reputation for high speed and low costs.  China hopes to supply the technology, equipment and engineers to build high-speed rail lines and has already been traveling between Beijing and Sacramento to make presentations.

The California agency has made no decisions on whose technology to choose, but China’s rail ministry would certainly face independent labor unions and publicly elected politicians, neither of which are factors back in China. The U.S. also has strict immigration and labor and laws, and "buy American" pressures might make it hard for China to make it all happen, no doubt.

Japanese executives have protested that the Chinese technologies resemble their own, making strong legal challenges unavoidable if any patents have been violated by China.  Tokyo will not go down without a fight.  You can count on it.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority plans to spend $43 billion to construct a 465-mile line from San Francisco to Los Angeles and into Orange County by 2020. Later on, the California line is to be extended to Sacramento and San Diego, while a private consortium hopes to build a separate route from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.

The California authority was awarded $2.25 billion in January in federal economic stimulus money for the high-speed rail project. Plans also include $12 billion in private financing.  China would "front" much of that, with federal/state/local jurisdictions filling in the gaps.

For the time being, China’s technical and financing plans would assist only California --- the state that could benefit most from the system.

Is China Hogging California's Sun?

China’s rise as a major solar module maker has been surprising in California, which is America's largest solar market.

The Chinese company Yingli Solar has taken over 27 percent of California’s solar market.  Suntech, China’s leading module-maker, now has a 10 percent share in California.

Over the last three years, China’s share of the California market has risen to 46 percent, from 2 percent.  At the same time, the share supplied in California by American companies has plummeted to 16 percent, from 43 percent.

At the beginning of 2009, Chinese solar companies supplied 21 percent of the market but, by year’s end, their stake had more than doubled.  I always thought that Japan had the whole "rising sun" thing pretty much locked up.  What happened?

The California solar market has continued to quickly expand through the recent recession, growing by 33 percent last year. The Golden State accounts for a whopping 40 percent of the U.S. solar market.

Your California Garlic May Be Chinese!

American consumers use more than 250 million pounds of garlic each year and are demanding more garlic at restaurants across the U.S.  Much of the garlic America consumes on a daily basis comes from China.

What consumers THINK comes from California, the "Garlic Capital of the World," is really coming from overseas growers. It's an agricultural trend that is taking its toll on California farmers.  Prepare for a fight.

It's simple to spot the difference between authentic California-grown fresh garlic and imported garlic.  California-grown garlic still has roots on the bottom of the bulb, whereas imported garlic is cleanly shaven of most roots.

Real California-grown garlic is also heavier than imported bulbs because of a higher density of soluble plant solids and lower water content.  The most obvious difference between California-grown and imported garlic is flavor.

California-grown fresh garlic has a richer and more complex flavor than Chinese garlic.  Want quality?  Buy California. 

Jobs For California Before China

Are we going to create more jobs? Are we going to protect the jobs we have?  Are we not Californians?

With California's unemployment still unacceptable, these questions are weighing heavy on the minds of lawmakers, union leaders, and hard-working Californians. What about the increasing liberalization of the international trade and associated disadvantages for California's workers, particularly with respect to China?

A telling report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) has outlined our trade problems with China, the biggest trade cheater on the international scene. The increasing U.S. trade deficit with China is costing Californians 400,000 jobs.  Enough already.  Let's fix the broken free trade system that allows countries like China to bend the rules to their own advantage.

China's artificially devalued currency is a little freaky.  Nearly every country in the world holds much of its cash reserves in U.S. Dollars which artificially stabilizes the high value of the dollar. China holds about 1.7 trillion U.S. Dollars, and uses a highly protectionist banking policy.  Wanna be their friend?

This makes Chinese exports much cheaper and attractive to foreign markets, while American products are more... EXPENSIVE.

This is the most distorted exchange-rate policy any major nation has ever followed. China also has sub-ghetto wages and crappy labor and environmental standards.  Californians are disgusted by gross violations of labor and human rights.  Communist dictatorial regimes have a way of totally sucking.

The TRADE Act (H.R. 3012) --- which outlines a fair trade outlook based on job creation, product safety, consumer safety, a clean environment, and the promotion of development at home and abroad --- is certainly worth a look.

California Kissing Up To China's BYD Automaker

China's automaker BYD has made recent headlines in California as it is considering locating its U.S. office and assembly line in Southern California, and it has teamed up with German automaking giant Daimler-Benz to manufacture cheap electric vehicles.

As one of the world's largest rechargeable battery and consumer electronics makers, BYD entered the U.S. market recently with its electric car model BYD e6 through the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.  The first batch of such cars is to hit markets in Europe and the United States soon.

Local authorities from Los Angeles County recently met BYD executives to woo the Chinese firm to locate its office and assembly line in SoCal.  Other cities including Long Beach and Lancaster are also getting dolled-up to attract the attention of China's fourth biggest carmaker.

As the largest auto market in the United States, California has recently seen a mushrooming of so-called "green tech" firms involved in the research and production of electric and other alternative energy vehicles.

Though local pundits claim that California is the right place for BYD to locate its U.S. office and assembly line, China's BYD executives are remaining silent so far.  Why so quiet?

Chinese-Californians Speak Out

I have been hearing from my Chinese-Californian friends and colleagues lately about what their previous lives were like in communist China.  Nightmares!  Every single one of these folks is thrilled to be a Californian, and they believe that China is "playing" the Golden State at a time when our state needs more jobs.

Chinese citizens are relatively cool for the most part but, apparently, the Chinese leadership wants only to centralize power at the expense of working people.

Of the many ex-Beijingers this blog deals with, all are saying not to trust the Chinese government regime.  Period.