Topic “China” — Exporter Magazine

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman said China is headed for a “trade conflict” with the US and other western countries as tensions rise about how to rebalance the global economy, according to a Bloomberg report. Global pharmaceutical sales may rise between 5 and 7% next year to USD$880 billion (NZD$1.16 trillion) on soaring demand in developing nations led by China as it becomes the world’s third-largest drug market, according to a Bloomberg report carried in China Daily. China’s household wealth is set to more than double to USD $35 trillion (NZD$46.3 trillion) by 2015 if the country maintains its historic growth rates, according to China Daily citing a report by Credit Suisse. A World Trade Organisation (WTO) panel has ruled that a US ban on Chinese poultry is illegal – the first such reprimand for legislation brought in under the Obama Administration, according to MeatProcess.com. China imported 8,017 tonnes of olive oil in 2007, up from 393 tonnes in 2001, according to the General Administration of Customs. Analysts expect imports to soon touch 10,000 tonnes a year. In August, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co completed its takeover of Swedish carmaker Volvo Car Corporation. And late last month Shanghai-based Bright Food (Group) Co Ltd emerged as the frontrunner to acquire United Biscuits, the UK biscuit maker currently owned by private equity firms. China would have invested a total of 140.5 billion yuan (NZD$28.15 billion) in its ambitious South-to-North Water Diversion (SNWD) project from 2006 to 2010, according to a China Daily report quoting the country’s water diversion authority.