Posts Tagged 'China'

Many people would think that trading raw materials is mutually beneficial between countries. The US economy depends on profiting globally, and we understand the benefit of using cheap labor in foreign countries through FDI. However, what happens when a state financed enterprise in China strategically buys up raw materials like iron and petroleum. I am not just talking about an even percentage, I mean “greater than 90% of the world’s raw supply of iron” and complete control over the U. S. petroleum supply. 1 Fortunately, the US government noticed what they were up to and made it illegal for another county to purchase a controlling interest in the U. S. petroleum supply. On a side note, it was only five years ago that the North Korean government financed a massive plant to produce billions in counterfeit U. S. currency. Everyone knows that the U. S. military forces are superior to any other country, but there is one thing that we do not have. China has a “population of 87 million exceeds most European nations”. 2 Many of these people are living in less fortunate conditions. You might even assume that they would prefer a better life, and the right leader could influence them to do so at the expense of other nations. We are vastly out numbered, so what makes our military forces superior? The answer is technology, industry, petroleum, and iron. Technology is always either for sale, or it can be gathered through espionage. China can buy the same level of technology from intermediaries or allied governments. Industry can be built with economic growth. Currently China is the number one growing economy in the world. It nearly controlled our petroleum supply domestically and failed, so China decided to buy petroleum from Saudi Arabia through German intermediaries. Now our gas prices are going through the roof and stock analysts are saying its some kind of market fluke created by a belief that oil prices will continue to soar. Iron, the main export that I would like to discuss, is five times its original price four years ago when China started buying up the world’s supply of raw iron. Right now, they are using this iron to create cranes and other machinery to export to the US and other nations, but most of the iron is being stockpiled in China for future use. What future use? We can only speculate. Why would China stockpile their ever-increasing supply of iron and still buy more, regardless of the price (literally)? What big plans do they have for such an immense stockpile of iron? Aren’t bullets, guns, factories, and tanks made out of iron? Absolutely, here is a piece of an article on the Chinese economy. “In recent years China’s booming economy, fueled by large inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) and rapid export growth, has emerged as a significant force in the global economy. This year, China surpassed the United States as the world’s largest recipient of FDI, and its bilateral trade surplus with the United States reached $117 billion in the 12 months up through August 2003. Both inward investment and export growth create strong demand for China’s currency, the Yuan. All things being equal, such demand pressures should cause the Yuan to appreciate relative to the U. S. dollar and cause China’s external position to return to balance. ”3Since China is the number one growing economy on the planet, they also have the number one growing currency relative to the US and other nations. Everyday China is become more industrialized. They used to be a purely state controlled economy, but they are starting to develop into more of a free economy in some areas. Overall, they are not shutting down as many businesses that do not pay the government officials regular bribes, which is definitely a move in the right direction. The US wants to encourage free trade with China because of their enormous population. This means that US companies would have access to a huge new market of consumers. It also means improving the quality of life in China. It is also widely known that many native Chinese women perform acts of prostitution or marry solely to support their family. It is also common in China to see people walking barefoot because they cannot afford sandals, or seeing people including children who are starving. China also has more than 300 organized crime syndicates with a history that goes back to the Shaolin Monks. China is a desperate nation, so desperate that they engage in foreign currency scams to inflate the value of the Renminbi (pronounced Yuan). In 2000, the exchange rate was 8. 3 Yuan per U. S. dollar. Today, the exchange rate is 7. 6 Yuan per US dollar. Here is the second piece of the article above. “But all things are not equal: China pegs the Yuan to the dollar at a fixed rate and strictly regulates imports and the allocation of foreign exchange. In order to maintain the Yuan’s fixed value, China must create a residual supply of Yuan to counter growing demand for its currency; China achieves this by buying dollars in foreign exchange markets. Between December 2000 and July 2003, China more than doubled its foreign reserve holdings from $168 billion (16% of its GDP) to $361 billion (31% of its GDP). ”4“How should the United States respond? On nine occasions between 1988 and 1992, the U. S. Treasury found that similar external surpluses accompanied by much smaller accumulation of foreign reserves constituted evidence that countries—including China—were manipulating their currency’s value for competitive trade advantage. When such a finding is made, U. S. law requires the Treasury Secretary to undertake negotiations to end such manipulation. Current evidence indicates that China is engaged in just such a manipulation of the Yuan for competitive gain. ”5Today, foreign “investment, combined with China’s swelling export earnings, have pushed the country’s foreign exchange reserves beyond $600 billion”. 6 One thing that I learned from experience is that desperate people and people that try to steal from others generally cannot be trusted. This is why, among all the other evidence I provided above, I do not think we should let the Chinese government do whatever they want. They should not have a majority of the world’s iron, petroleum or our country’s economic and physical security in the palm of their hands. What good are tanks and supply trucks that do not have gas? This may seem silly today, because we are not at war with China. In support of this opinion, many nations like Japan learned long ago that warfare in the physical sense is foolish and destructive, because it diminishes the productive capacity of the nation unless they can build new factories just as fast as their enemies can blow them up. Today, the real modern warfare is economics. If China shuts down U. S. companies that depend on buying iron at a certain price in order to earn a profit after U. S. labor costs, then they take our market share and our productive capacity depends on whether China will sell us what we need. Prices are good today because Chinese labor costs are low, but it will not stay that way according to economic theory. Eventually the FDI, which exceeds our nation, will create even more jobs and economic prosperity in China. The end-result will increase wages, and hopefully it will improve working conditions. However, if China does not sell to us anymore and they do the same bullying routine in other international markets, then we could be at a serious economic and military disadvantage. Should we trust China and believe that they want to change for the better? Here is an article that may shed some light on that question. “China wants to suspend human rights talks with the United States. The news came after Washington said yesterday that it will condemn Beijing’s serious violations with a resolution at the UN Human Rights Commission currently underway in Geneva. The Chinese foreign minister called the action taken by the Americans a ‘serous meddling in China’s internal affairs. ’ China’s Vice Foreign7 Minister said the ‘clash intentionally provoked by the United States has now seriously damaged any basis for dialog and discussion on human rights issues between both countries. China must immediately suspend talks and discussion. ’ Yesterday, US State Department spokesperson, Richard Boucher, expressed the American government’s disappointment with Beijing’s inadequacies in improving human rights conditions in the country, after commitments it undertook in 2002 and 2003. Boucher also stressed Washington’s concern about ‘backward steps’ being taken by China, as reported in the American government’s world human rights report released last Feb. Last year the United States asked for a resolution, stating that Beijing had made limited, though significant progress in the sphere of human rights. The resolution was presented each year after the brutal repression of the student protestors in Tiananmen Square in June 1989. This year various human rights organizations, like Human Rights Watch, asked that the United States to put back a motion to blacklist Beijing. Even American trade union representatives requested that their government condemn China for the way it trades its labor force. Meanwhile Amnesty International called for a moratorium on the death penalty on China, reporting that the Chinese legal system does not guarantee fair trials and often punishes innocent persons. Yesterday the AI published a report titled ‘Executed according to law?’ ‘The report was released following statements made by a member of Chinese Parliament who said that every year there are at least 10,000 people sentenced to death in China 5 times more than all cases of capital punishment registered worldwide’. ”8The Chinese people are very much like our own with the exception that they communicate more through context and women are not valued very highly in their society. They also have four different cooking styles based on the four different regions. They speak different languages in each region, and they have a wide array of different traditions based on the former cultures that lived there before. China does not tolerate freedom of speech and they frequently kill anyone who is suspected on saying negative things about the current government. There is no defense orfair trial, and basic human rights are not valued by their government. Their economy is state controlled, but they are slowly changing into a free enterprise economy. I think that trading with China is mutually beneficial as long as they are not buying up significant amounts of raw materials that affect our national security. After the “911 attacks on New York and the Pentagon”, security measures at the ports are very strict in the US. 9 The Port of Tacoma and the Port of Seattle have cameras, tall fences, and security personal strategically placed. They also conduct more customs inspections than before, and canines are commonly used to find people and contraband. The US also has a satellite system that detects nuclear radiation, infrared (heat signatures), records and filters every electronic conversation in the US, and video records the activities of the world’s ports. They also pay very close attention to refrigerated and abnormally heavy containers for biological weapons and shielded nuclear material. China does not perform any significant security measures other than custom inspections accompanied by armed guards. Custom inspectors frequently accept bribes to expedite export and import processing, which creates a huge delay for companies who did not pay bribes or paid less. Dogs are also used for detecting contraband, but they use german sheppards instead of beagles. German sheppards are know to be effective in chasing down people and enforcing security. However, beagles have two hundred times the ability to smell contraband. This means that their port security is seriously lacking unless they physically inspect every crate, which they do not normally do whenever a bribe is taken to expedite the customs process. Recently, the Port of Tacoma purchased three cranes from China to unload containers off the ships. They purchased scrap iron from suppliers in Washington State, melted the iron down, manufactured the cranes, and sold them back to us for less than domestic companies could make them. Inventories of iron are currently state managed and exceed “70% of iron imports internationally”. 10 US laws regarding customs are identified as governing security measures domestically. Otherwise, maritime laws apply to shipments. The political ramifications of cutting off certain resources to China will make them an enemy. In order for the US to be effective at cutting off the massive purchasing campaign of iron by China, it will need allies who are all the current trading partners to do the same thing. However, this would also make them enemies of China, and suppliers are becoming very wealthy by selling their raw materials for a higher price to China. This means that international trading partners must have a significant reason to cut China off or limit them other than the US’s economic prosperity. Culturally we also have to consider that the Chinese want a better life, and they want independence. It is unlikely that the US will be able to push the Chinese government into giving their people human rights without completely replacing their government or waiting a significant number of years for their human rights policies to catch up with the rest of the civilized countries in the world. Geographically, China has taken over Hong Kong, which is the largest shipping location of Chinese imports and exports. The decision of the Chinese government to take over Hong Kong assures their ability to distribute goods internationally without major changes in worldwide distribution. Economically, we must understand that China has a lot to offer in terms of cheap labor and outsourcing, but it may come with a steep cost in the near future. Letters of credit are guaranteed by international banks in Malaysia and China based on current deposits. This insures payment on receipt of goods for both imports and exports. The global marketing process for government contracts is the same as it is in the US. Foreign bidders are required to send a proposal to the government authority issuing the contract. Whether they choose to buy or not from a foreign source is a balance between price driven economics and supporting local companies. China has no restrictions on the treatment of their employees, the ages of workers, the hours they work, the healthcare of employees or their working conditions. US employers must abide by laws concerning the treatment of minors, paying overtime, paying wages, paying health and unemployment benefits, discrimination, etc. Foreign investment in China is carefully controlled in specific sectors and industries. Foreign investment in the US is allowed as long as it does not negatively impact our national security. This is why the US government stopped China from purchasing a controlling position in the U. S. ’s primary oil supplier. However, it is almost a guarantee that they will try again. If you choose to do business in China, please carefully consider the implications of your actions. Making a great profit is very important, but it can never come at the expense of our lives, the lives of our children or the world’s stability and security. I think the world has a great opportunity everyday to change for the greater good, maybe our enemies will decide that building a better world for everyone is better than petty arguments over land, money and religion. BibliographyFlannery, Russell. At Your Service, China! New York, NY: Forbes, 2007Goodman, Peter S. China Ends Fixed-Rate Currency. Washington DC: Washington Post, 2005Hersh, Adam S. China’s currency manipulation and U. S. trade. Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute, 2003http://www. epinet. org/content. cfm/webfeatures_snapshots_archive_10302003seHill, Charles W. L. Global Business Today 5th Edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2008R. , M. Beijing suspends human rights talks with United States. Geneva: Asia News, 2004 http://www. asianews. it/view4print. php?l=en&art=524

Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It falls on the 1st day of the 1st lunar month. In 2010, Chinese New Year begins on Sunday, February 14th. It is a national carnival to welcome the spring after a long and gloomy winter. People have many kinds of traditional celebration until the end of the following Lantern Festival.

Celebratory activities include put up Spring Festival couplets and New Year paintings on the doors, a dragon and lion dance, Chinese New Feast, firecrackers, giving lucky money to children, the New Year bell ringing and Chinese New Year Greetings. Most of Chinese people will stop the celebrating in their home on the 7th day of New Year because the national holiday usually ends around that day, however celebrations in public areas can last until the 15th day of New Year.

Chinese New Year Foods are very important to Chinese people. All family members come together to eat at this time. Chinese New Year foods are not only delicious but also it is traditional to eat certain foods over this festival. Chinese Dumplings, Fish, Spring Rolls, rice glue ball (Tangyuan) are usually seen as delicious and eaten at this time.

On Chinese New Year, you can hear all kinds of greetings for Chinese New Year, such as “xin nian hao” and “xin nian kuai le”, means “Happy New Year”. In 2010, also can say “hu nian ji xiang”, which meas ” Good luck in the Year of the Tiger”. There are some other greetings such as “gong xi fa cai” which means “Wish You Great Prosperity”. In China, send a text message is a popular way for people to greet each other.

Travel to china this season would give you the chance to enjoy the traditional festival time in China; you will see and experience the real China in the period of this splendid Chinese New Year, not only the lovely countryside but also its rich and delicious food as well as traditional customs. Highly recommend you to join in China highlights Chinese New Year Tour to get a full experience of this special time. They provide you highly marvelous travel destinations and flexible itinerary which you will never forget, the Best places to spend the holiday of Spring Festival are in the major cities of Beijing, Hong Kong, Guilin and Guangzhou.

There are traditionally many taboos associated with the New Year Festival, but in recent years some of them have been discarded, especially among urban populations in larger cities. Examples of typical New Year taboos are the following: on the first day of the new year, a woman may not leave her house, otherwise she will be plagued with bad luck for the entirety of the coming year;  a married daughter is not allowed to pay a visit to the house of her parents as a visit from a married daughter on this day is believed to bring bad luck to the parents, causing economic hardship for the family; the act of sweeping on this day is associated with sweeping wealth away, therefore Chinese people do not sweep their house on this day.

During the New Year Festival season (from the 1st to 15th of the Lunar New Year) the following taboos apply:  the cry of a child is believed to bring bad luck to the family, so parents do their best to keep children from crying by whatever means possible; the act of breaking tools or other equipment during this period is associated with a loss of wealth for the coming year, therefore tradesmen and business people in general take great precaution to avoid damaging their tools and equipment; a visit to the hospital during this period is believed to bring illness to the person in question for the duration of coming year, therefore visits to the hospital are avoided except in cases of extreme emergency.

Everyone is busy on Chinese New Year, and everyone is happy, too. A Happy New Year to one and all!

China is compiled of a vast variety of extremely different landscapes, using mostly plateaus and mountains in the west, & lower lands on the east. As a effect, principal rivers flow From west to east, including the Yangtze (central), the Huang He (central-east), and the Amur (northeast), and every now and again toward the south (admitting the Pearl River, Mekong River, & Brahmaputra), by using most Chinese rivers emptying into the Pacific Ocean.

In the east, by the shores of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea there are extended and densely populated alluvial plains;. On the edges of the Inner Mongolian plateau in the northerly, grasslands may be seen. Southern China is dominated by hills & low mountain ranges. In the central-east are the deltas of China’s two major rivers, the Huang He & Yangtze River (Chang Jiang). to the highest degree of China’s arable lands lie by those rivers; they were the centers of China’s major ancient civilizations. Extra large rivers include the Pearl River, Mekong, Brahmaputra & Amur.

In the west, the northerly has a great alluvial plain, and the south has a vast calcareous tableland covered by hill ranges of moderate elevation, and the Himalayas, containing the highest point Mount Everest. The northwesterly also has high plateaus sustaining more arid desert landscapes such as the Takla-Makan and the Gobi Desert, which one has been expanding. During many dynasties, the southwestern border of China has been the high mounts and deep valleys of Yunnan, which one split modern China since Burma, Laos & Vietnam.

The Paleozoic formations of China, excepting only the upper separate of the Carboniferous system, are marine, when the Mesozoic and Tertiary deposits are estuarine and freshwater or even else of terrestrial origin. Groupings of volcanic cones occur in the awesome Plain of northerly China. In the Liaodong & Shandong Peninsulas, in that location are basaltic plateaus.

The climate of China varies greatly. The northern zone (containing Beijing) has winters of Arctic severity. The central zone (containing Shanghai) has a temperate clime. The southern zone (containing Guangzhou) has a subtropical climate.

Due to a prolonged drought & poor agricultural practices, dust storms have get usual in the spring in China. Dust has blown to southern China & Taiwan, and has even reached the West Coast of the United States. Water, erosion, & pollution control keep close at hand get crucial issues in China’s dealings by owning Other areas.

Confucianism was the official philosophy throughout virtually of Imperial China’s history, & mastery of Confucian texts was the main criterion for entry into the majestic bureaucracy. The literary emphasis of the exams impacted the general perception of cultural refinement in China, e. g. the look at that calligraphy was a higher art form than painting or drama. China’s traditional measures were derived Derived from various versions of Confucianism and conservatism. A number of further authoritarian strains of believed have as well been influential, such as Legalism.

There was typically dispute betwixt the philosophies, such as the individualistic Song Dynasty neo-Confucians, that thought Legalism departed since the original spirit of Confucianism. Examinations & a culture of merit stay greatly valued in China today. In recent years, a number of New Confucians use at times advocated that democratic ideals and human rights are quite well-matched by having traditional Confucian “Asian values”

Using the rise of Western economic and military power beginning in the mid-19th century, non-Chinese systems of social and political organization gained adherents in China. Some of those would-be reformers totally rejected China’s cultural legacy, whilst others sought to combine the strengths of Chinese & Western cultures. In center, the history of 20th century China is one of experimentation By using new systems of social, political, and economic administration that would permit for the reintegration of the country in the wake of dynastic collapse.

The first leaders of the PRC were born in the old society but were determined by the May Fourth Movement and reformist ideals. They sought to change A few traditional aspects of Chinese culture, such as rural land tenure, sexism, & Confucian education, while keeping others, such as the family structure & obedience to the state. numbers of observers think that the period following 1949 is a continuation of traditional Chinese dynastic history, while others say that the CPC’s rule has damaged the foundations of Chinese culture, especially through political movements such as the Cultural Revolution, where Several aspects of traditional culture were labeled “regressive & harmful” or “vestiges of feudalism” by the regime.

They further argue that Many crucial aspects of traditional Chinese morals and culture, like Confucianism, Chinese art, literature, & playing arts like Beijing opera house, were altered to conform to regime policies and communist propaganda. The institution of the Simplified Chinese orthography reform is controversial too. Today, the PRC authorities has accepted much of traditional Chinese culture as an integral part of Chinese society, lauding it as an crucial accomplishment of the Chinese civilization and emphasizing it as existence vital to the formation of a Chinese interior identity.

Fine art, scholarship, and literature

Chinese characters have had Many variants & styles throughout Chinese history. Tens of thousands of ancient compose documents are still extant, from Oracle bones to Qing edicts. Calligraphy is a major art variety in China, further extremely regarded than painting & music. Manuscripts of the Classics and religious texts (mainly Confucian, Taoist, & Buddhist) were handwritten by ink brush. Calligraphy later became commercialized, & works by famous artists became prized ownerships.

Printmaking was evolved During the Song Dynasty. Academies of scholars sponsored by the empire were organized to comment on the classics in two printed and handwritten form. Royalty frequently took part in these discussions.

For centuries, economic & social advancement in China could be supplied by high up performance on the majestic examinations. This headed to a meritocracy, although it was available only to males who could afford test readying. imperial examinations expected applicants to write essays and demonstrate mastery of the Confucian classics. Those that passed the top level of the exam turned elite scholar-officials known as jinshi, a extremely esteemed socio-economic status.

Chinese philosophers, writers, and poets were extremely respected, and played key roles in preserving & advancing the culture of the empire. A few classical scholars, however, were noted for their daring depictions of the lives of the most common people, often to the displeasure of authorities.

Sports and recreation

At that place is grounds to believe that a variety of football (i. e. soccer) was first played in China around 1000 CE, leading Numerous historians to suppose that it originated there. Besides football, the most mainstream sports are martial Arts, table tennis, badminton, basketball, U. S. football, & extra lately, golf. Basketball is especially mainstream By owning the young, in urban centers where space is limited. The NBA has a great following & Many idolize Yao Ming.

There are also Several traditional sports. Chinese dragon boat racing occurs during the Duan Wu festival. In Inner Mongolia, Mongolian-style grappling & horse racing are popular. In Tibet, archery & equestrian athleticses are part of traditional festivals.

China has turn into a athleticses power in the Asian region & around the world. China finished 1st in medal counts in each of the Asian Games as 1982,& in the top four in medal numbers in each of the Summer Olympic Games as 1992. The 2008 Summer Olympics, formally acknowledge as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, will be carried in Beijing, China.

Physical good condition is extremely regarded. Morning exercisings are a most common activity & the elderly are often seen practicing qigong in parks.

Board games such as International Chess, Go (Weiqi), and Xiangqi (Chinese chess) are also mutual and have organised formal rivalries.

Insight

The reality of business is that companies must do more with less to stay competitive and continually search out new ways to improve products and time-to-market to lead their markets. Top companies have long found it makes good business sense to outsource a business function — from making parts to delivering payroll — to wherever it can be done the best. With the Telecommunications Act of 1996 came the wave of fiber-optic cable and a new capability that truly enabled the IT departments of U. S. companies to plug into offshore outsourcing firms and take advantage of lower wages and cost efficiencies.

Many of these same companies have R&D departments developing embedded software and hardware and now the CTOs want to leverage offshore vendors to not only reap the same benefits of lower wages and expanded productivity, but bring better products to market sooner. Although the potential benefits are there, companies must consider two things before offshoring embedded R&D technology. First, the requirements of an R&D department that does embedded technology development for the marketplace and those of an IT department that serves employees are not the same. Second, a country’s human capital may be good quality for IT projects, but may not be the best choice to meet the higher skill levels required for R&D embedded technology.

Basically, the technology offshoring choices boils down to two: China or India. China is known as “the world’s factory” and produces $60 billion worth of consumer electronic goods a year. India, known as “the offshore call center,” is the acknowledged leader in IT and business process outsourcing (BPO). 1

Whether a CTO is searching for an offshore outsourcing vendor for a single project or a long-term partnership, the vendor’s country should be a significant part of the due diligence.

Engineering Talent Pool

The highly respected National Academies notes in an October, 2005 report that a company could potentially employ five chemists in China or 11 engineers in India for the cost of one chemist or engineer in the United States. Wages are lower offshore, there’s no question about that. Long Circle, however, suggests that companies must look further and examine additional important criteria when searching for the best country to outsource embedded product research and development technology.

? Pay attention to attrition and wages

The number one reason most companies send work offshore is because wages are less. Experts recommend that engineering wages stay within the range of 20 to 50 percent lower than wages in the U. S. to make offshoring worthwhile. However an important factor to keep in mind is that the rules of supply and demand apply in offshoring and inevitably result in rising wages.

According to a report released in June, 2005 by management consulting company McKinsey and Company, India faces a shortage of middle managers due to the growth of India’s IT industry by approximately 20 percent annually over the last 10 years. Wages for IT project managers have increased by 23 percent annually over the last four years. 2

Attrition rates in India have been estimated at anywhere from 20 percent to 50 percent. Turnover is a problem and many firms are looking for ways to retain their workers in addition to increased wages. According to a Businessweek article in February, 2005, India: Good Help Is Hard To Find, a prominent vendor is using creative ways to hire middle managers and to reduce attrition — from finding homes for new hires to helping their children with school admissions.

Industry analysts acknowledge that India is the seasoned player in offshore IT technology and wages are rising, while China is newer to the offshoring industry and wages in China are lower.

? Is the R&D pool deep enough, with enough new graduates and experienced engineers?

Although both China and India have excellent universities and engineering programs, a very real concern for a company looking to offshore embedded systems R&D development is: Does this country have a large enough pool of R&D engineers, both new graduates and young engineers with seven years or less of experience? If not, supply and demand may eventually drive the costs up and possibly impact deadlines.

New graduates. The exact number of four-year engineering graduates each country produces yearly is open to debate.

The statistics cited in the first row of the chart below have been widely quoted in the media, from Fortune Magazine to a speech by Senator Ted Kennedy. However according to the Wall Street Journal online, these figures are misleading and no one can track down a concrete and reliable source for where the numbers originated.

Engineering Graduates China India United States

Source: Unknown 600,000 350,000 70,000

Source: Duke University 352,000 112,000 137,000

The statistics in the second row of the chart are from a study released in December, 2005 by Duke University (and also widely quoted in the media, including The Christian Science Monitor) that cites different numbers for the engineering graduates in each country.

Regardless of the actual number, statistics show that China produces the most engineering graduates each year.

Experienced engineers. The offshore country’s workforce must have depth of experience as well. In a press release issued in February to review the industry’s performance during 2005, NASSCOM said that in India, IT service workers clearly dominate engineering R&D workers. According to NASSCOM, in 2005 there were 316,000 workers in the ITES-BPO segment and only 93,000 workers in the engineering services and R&D and software products segment. This trend is expected to continue during 2006.

By comparison, a McKinsey and Company report says that four percent of the total university-educated workforce in India has an engineering degree, compared to 33 percent in China. 2

When selecting an offshore vendor for embedded technology, the vendor must not only have sufficient human capital (both new graduates and experienced engineers) to complete the development project, but the experience of the workforce must be product research and development, instead of merely IT experience.

University educated workforce

with engineering degree:

India: 4%

China: 33 %

? Potential culture and language barriers

Although engineers do not necessarily require a good command of English to perform their job, communication could be an obstacle unless there are English-speaking employees at points-of-contact with the customer.

In India, English (although not American English) is the second language and companies can expect offshore employees to communicate well.

While English is not as common for the average Chinese citizen, the situation is different for college graduates in China. To be admitted to college in China, high school graduates take five exams, and three of those exams — Chinese literature, math, and English — are required. To attend the top universities, students must obtain near perfect scores on their exams — including English. The result is that top university graduates in China do have good English language skills.

Infrastructure: How are the roads and the utilities?

On August 8, 2008, the world will focus on China when the 2008 Summer Olympic Games begin in Beijing. China is taking great pride in hosting the Olympic Games and is focusing on improving infrastructure for the expected visitors from around the world.

According to news reports:

• Beijing will spend an estimated $38 billion for new urban infrastructure, including building and renovating roads and railroads, building subway and light rail lines and building sites for Olympic venues.

• Natural gas will replace many coal-burning heating plants.

• A third airport terminal in Beijing will double the airport’s capacity.

India’s infrastructure, on the other hand, is generally viewed as lacking. For example, the International Diamond Exchange (IDEX) noted in a recent online report that although India potentially could become the leading market for diamonds in the future, India currently faces major obstacles such as India’s heavy dependence on imported energy and poor infrastructure. IDEX laments, “India’s infrastructure is dismal. For example, roads are poor and land-based communications don’t work. ”

However, according to an article on indiadaily. com, “… improving India’s potholed highways, congested ports and erratic telecommunications and blackout-plagued power service is vital to drawing foreign investment and bolstering the economy further, economists say. ” The Indian government has forecasted growth of 6. 9 percent during the year ending March 31, 2005, which means India has the second-fasted growing economy after China. 4

When evaluating outsourcing vendors, companies should keep in mind that U. S. personnel will undoubtedly visit the vendor’s offshore facilities from time to time.

Intellectual Property Protection

Both India and China have reputations that are less than stellar when it comes to protecting intellectual property. China especially is notorious for copyright infringement. However media sources reported recently that an intellectual property milestone was reached when a U. S. business was sued for patent infringement in Texas federal court by a mainland Chinese plaintiff. Experts predict that when Chinese companies begin to police their own IP infringement, the Chinese government will become more vigilant in protecting the intellectual property of foreign countries within China.

China’s membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) is also viewed as driving reform.

Companies should scrutinize a potential vendor’s security protocols to ensure that a potential vendor adheres to the best-of-class security protocols found in U. S. companies.

Conclusion

When early outsourcing projects involved IT and Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) the majority of companies turned to India. However, outsourcing IT development and BPO is not the same as outsourcing embedded product research and development; that’s comparing apples to oranges. The requirements and skill levels are not the same. Companies must evaluate not only the outsourcing vendor’s qualifications, but the vendor’s offshore location as well to ensure companies realize the value they want to achieve. Long Circle recommends for a company’s R&D department to realize the greatest return on their outsourcing investment, there is no better place in the world than China.

About Long Circle

Long Circle provides outsourced engineering services to companies whose products and services rely on embedded software and hardware technology. Long Circle and the Long Circle China Center of Excellence enables U. S. companies to reduce costs, increase engineering bandwidth, and broaden market reach by providing low-risk, strategic access to China’s engineering talent, manufacturing industry, and emerging markets. To learn more about Long Circle, visit http://www. longcircle. com.

Woodruff’s approach seemed very promising at first.   He went to four different continents and countries in order to assess the global impacts of China, the countries being Angola, Brazil, Cambodia, and the United States.

The Angolan segment highlighted China’s economic development model in Africa.   The myth perpetrated in this segment is that the development has actually provided a net benefit to the people of Africa.

In fact, the real truth China is practicing a very sophisticated 21st century version of imperialism in which China loans African countries billions of dollars in exchange for encumbering natural resources.   These resources range from oil and natural gas to copper, cobalt, and titanium.   As part of its debt encumbrance strategy, China gets to reduce its unemployment rate by using a large Chinese construction workforce to actually do the work – rather than relying so much on the native population.

In this segment, Woodruff makes repeated references to corruption.   However, in a glaring omission, he fails to make explicit just how much of the billions in Chinese aid is actually siphoned off into offshore bank accounts held by the African elites.   Nor does Woodruff highlight the intense poverty in the countriesChina is supposed to be “benefiting” — other than offering a few images of slums.

That said, the absolute worst omission of the African segment is Woodruff’s failure to mention the Darfur genocide in the Sudan.   Instead, the only thing we get is a passing reference to Chinese aid to the Sudan in exchange for oil.   In fact,China regularly trades its veto power at the UN for African resources in exchange for shielding African despots from UN interventions.

What made Woodruff’s omission all the more galling is that Woodruff did an extensive interview with China’s United Nations Ambassador Wang Guangya.   This is the same reprehensible “diplomat” who has repeatedly blocked UN action on Darfur.  (Wang also has blocked action following the sham Zimbabwe election and the attempts of the West to sanction Iran for its nuclear development).     The failure to confront Wang on the Darfur question was tantamount to appeasement — or, far worse, simple ignorance.

Woodruff’s omissions were equally in evidence in his Brazil segment.   The theme Woodruff drew here is that China’s increasing consumption for soybeans is leading to deforestation of the Amazon and potential environmental problems.   The biggest problems with this segment were a lack of visual imagery to portray the destruction of the Amazon, and the lack of science and statistics to explain how deforestation in the Amazon is likely to affect the global environment and crop production.

In fact, most of the Amazon’s deforestation occurs during the dry season in an orchestrated slash and burn campaign that fouls the skies throughout South America.   Showing that massive environmental carnage — instead of a few big trees being felled — would have made for a far stronger presentation.   Missing, too, was any good explanation of why we should care about the Amazon.   In fact, theAmazon River basin and its rainforest are absolutely critical to the global ecology because they are considered to be the “Lungs of our Planet. “  By recycling carbon dioxide, the rainforest in particular provides more than 20 percent of the world’s oxygen.

Already, more than 20% of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed while the World Wildlife Fund warns that more than half of the forest will be gone by 2030.    According to many scientists, this destruction of the rainforest has the potential to create severe drought conditions not just in South America but also as far north as the American and Canadian farm belts.   The result may well be a global food crisis — high irony indeed given that the destruction of the Amazon rain forest is occurring in the name of increased food production.

Turning to the third segment on Cambodia, Woodruff does a good job tagging the Chinese with at least some responsibility for the Khmer Rouge genocide of millions.   Missing in this segment, however, was any insight into the real reason why China is setting up so many sweat shops in Cambodia.   Too bad Woodruff didn’t get his cameras into some of these sweat shops to expose the slave labor conditions!

My other big beef with the Cambodian segment was the failure of Woodruff to mention how China is using its upstream positioning on the Mekong River to dam that river with bullying impunity.  China’s dam-happy Mekong River design will eventually include 15 mega-dams.   These mega-dams are likely to create economic and environmental effects that are vast and far-ranging — and Cambodiais at the front lines of this onslaught.

To understand the problem, consider the impacts of China’s dams on one of the world’s most fascinating ecological treasures, the legendary Lake Tonle Sap in Cambodia. For much of the year, the lake is only a yard deep with a footprint of only a bit more than 1,000 square miles. During the rainy season, however, flow from the Mekong River helps deepen the lake to roughly 30 feet and increases the area of the lake more than five-fold. This turns Lake Tonle Sap into one of the best breeding grounds for fish in the world.

The obvious problem facing the Tonle Sap is that the China’s mega-dams are evening out the flow of water and thereby preventing the world’s most fertile natural fishery from realizing its full depth and breadth in the critical fish breeding season. Already, fish catches have declined dramatically.   This is already having a significant negative effect on Cambodia’s fishing economy.

Woodruff clearly saved the worst for last in his discussion of the impacts of Chinaon the American economy. He leads off the segment by helping to perpetuate the myth that China’s emergence as the world’s factory floor is the result of cheap, hard-working labor.   (The mouthpiece here is Evan Osnos, Beijing Bureau Chief for the Chicago Tribune — an otherwise cogent voice. )

In fact, my research has clearly shown that cheap labor is only a small part of the China puzzle.   Much of China’s advantage in world markets comes from five unfair mercantilist trade practices that include a complex web of illegal export subsidies, blatant currency manipulation, counterfeiting and piracy that lowers production costs, and lax environmental and health and safety standards that likewise lower production costs.

That China blatantly manipulates its currency seems to be totally lost on both Woodruff and the seemingly clueless Fareed Zakaria.   Indeed, it is Zakaria who helps perpetuate the myth that the Chinese are more frugal savers than American consumers and that’s why China helps the U. S. with its debt by buying U. S. treasury bills.

Note to Woodruff and Zakaria: The purchase of U. S. treasury bills is an integral part of the currency manipulation process.   To maintain China’s fixed peg to the dollar and keep the yuan grossly undervalued, China must recycle dollars back into the U. S.    Of course, individual Chinese citizens have no say in this matter; rather they are merely press-ganged into their frugality by China’s central bank — which wants to keep exports to the U. S. cheap and imports into China dear.   (It’s no accident the U. S. trade deficit regularly hits record highs. )

The failure of Zakaria to understand this currency manipulation process (and the broader role of unfair trade practices in China’s grab of American markets) makes it perfectly understandable why Zakaria ignorantly advises that the U. S. has only two options  with China: “either ride the wave or drown in it. ”  In fact, what theU. S. government should be doing to prevent the loss of American jobs is cracking down on China’s unfair trade practices.   Leveling the playing field would go a long way towards bringing jobs back to the U. S.

On that note, it is useful to point out perhaps the biggest myth of the documentary – one perpetuated by none other than Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York.   His Honor piously insists that “the jobs that [China] is creating are low-priced jobs” and “that’s not the kind of jobs we want for our citizens. ”

Note to the Mayor: While you’ve apparently been sleeping, China has moved steadily up and across the value chain into everything from autos and biopharma to commercial aircraft.   It’s not just about cheap toys and sneakers anymore.

My bottom line is that I would love to see an in-depth, fair and balanced critical look at the economic, environmental, military, political, and social impacts of China on rest of the world.   All that we have gotten so far from TV is a bunch of puff pieces that miss many of the major points and keep perpetuate a set of very dangerous myths.

©2008 Peter Navarro

Author Bio Peter Navarro a business professor at the University of California-Irvine, is the author of the best- selling investment book If It’s Raining in Brazil, Buy Starbucks and the path-breaking management book, The Well-Timed Strategy. Professor Navarro is a widely sought after and gifted public speaker and a regular CNBC contributor. Prior to joining CNBC, he appeared frequently on Bloomberg TV, CNN, and NPR, as well as on all three major network news shows. He has testified before Congress and the U. S. -China Commission and his work has appeared in publications ranging from Business Week, the L. A. Times, and New York Times to the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Harvard Business Review.

Many people would think that trading raw materials is mutually beneficial between countries. The US economy depends on profiting globally, and we understand the benefit of using cheap labor in foreign countries through FDI. However, what happens when a state financed enterprise in China strategically buys up raw materials like iron and petroleum. I am not just talking about an even percentage, I mean “greater than 90% of the world’s raw supply of iron” and complete control over the U. S. petroleum supply. 1 Fortunately, the US government noticed what they were up to and made it illegal for another county to purchase a controlling interest in the U. S. petroleum supply. On a side note, it was only five years ago that the North Korean government financed a massive plant to produce billions in counterfeit U. S. currency. Everyone knows that the U. S. military forces are superior to any other country, but there is one thing that we do not have. China has a “population of 87 million exceeds most European nations”. 2 Many of these people are living in less fortunate conditions. You might even assume that they would prefer a better life, and the right leader could influence them to do so at the expense of other nations. We are vastly out numbered, so what makes our military forces superior? The answer is technology, industry, petroleum, and iron. Technology is always either for sale, or it can be gathered through espionage. China can buy the same level of technology from intermediaries or allied governments. Industry can be built with economic growth. Currently China is the number one growing economy in the world. It nearly controlled our petroleum supply domestically and failed, so China decided to buy petroleum from Saudi Arabia through German intermediaries. Now our gas prices are going through the roof and stock analysts are saying its some kind of market fluke created by a belief that oil prices will continue to soar. Iron, the main export that I would like to discuss, is five times its original price four years ago when China started buying up the world’s supply of raw iron. Right now, they are using this iron to create cranes and other machinery to export to the US and other nations, but most of the iron is being stockpiled in China for future use. What future use? We can only speculate. Why would China stockpile their ever-increasing supply of iron and still buy more, regardless of the price (literally)? What big plans do they have for such an immense stockpile of iron? Aren’t bullets, guns, factories, and tanks made out of iron? Absolutely, here is a piece of an article on the Chinese economy. “In recent years China’s booming economy, fueled by large inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) and rapid export growth, has emerged as a significant force in the global economy. This year, China surpassed the United States as the world’s largest recipient of FDI, and its bilateral trade surplus with the United States reached $117 billion in the 12 months up through August 2003. Both inward investment and export growth create strong demand for China’s currency, the Yuan. All things being equal, such demand pressures should cause the Yuan to appreciate relative to the U. S. dollar and cause China’s external position to return to balance. ”3Since China is the number one growing economy on the planet, they also have the number one growing currency relative to the US and other nations. Everyday China is become more industrialized. They used to be a purely state controlled economy, but they are starting to develop into more of a free economy in some areas. Overall, they are not shutting down as many businesses that do not pay the government officials regular bribes, which is definitely a move in the right direction. The US wants to encourage free trade with China because of their enormous population. This means that US companies would have access to a huge new market of consumers. It also means improving the quality of life in China. It is also widely known that many native Chinese women perform acts of prostitution or marry solely to support their family. It is also common in China to see people walking barefoot because they cannot afford sandals, or seeing people including children who are starving. China also has more than 300 organized crime syndicates with a history that goes back to the Shaolin Monks. China is a desperate nation, so desperate that they engage in foreign currency scams to inflate the value of the Renminbi (pronounced Yuan). In 2000, the exchange rate was 8. 3 Yuan per U. S. dollar. Today, the exchange rate is 7. 6 Yuan per US dollar. Here is the second piece of the article above. “But all things are not equal: China pegs the Yuan to the dollar at a fixed rate and strictly regulates imports and the allocation of foreign exchange. In order to maintain the Yuan’s fixed value, China must create a residual supply of Yuan to counter growing demand for its currency; China achieves this by buying dollars in foreign exchange markets. Between December 2000 and July 2003, China more than doubled its foreign reserve holdings from $168 billion (16% of its GDP) to $361 billion (31% of its GDP). ”4“How should the United States respond? On nine occasions between 1988 and 1992, the U. S. Treasury found that similar external surpluses accompanied by much smaller accumulation of foreign reserves constituted evidence that countries—including China—were manipulating their currency’s value for competitive trade advantage. When such a finding is made, U. S. law requires the Treasury Secretary to undertake negotiations to end such manipulation. Current evidence indicates that China is engaged in just such a manipulation of the Yuan for competitive gain. ”5Today, foreign “investment, combined with China’s swelling export earnings, have pushed the country’s foreign exchange reserves beyond $600 billion”. 6 One thing that I learned from experience is that desperate people and people that try to steal from others generally cannot be trusted. This is why, among all the other evidence I provided above, I do not think we should let the Chinese government do whatever they want. They should not have a majority of the world’s iron, petroleum or our country’s economic and physical security in the palm of their hands. What good are tanks and supply trucks that do not have gas? This may seem silly today, because we are not at war with China. In support of this opinion, many nations like Japan learned long ago that warfare in the physical sense is foolish and destructive, because it diminishes the productive capacity of the nation unless they can build new factories just as fast as their enemies can blow them up. Today, the real modern warfare is economics. If China shuts down U. S. companies that depend on buying iron at a certain price in order to earn a profit after U. S. labor costs, then they take our market share and our productive capacity depends on whether China will sell us what we need. Prices are good today because Chinese labor costs are low, but it will not stay that way according to economic theory. Eventually the FDI, which exceeds our nation, will create even more jobs and economic prosperity in China. The end-result will increase wages, and hopefully it will improve working conditions. However, if China does not sell to us anymore and they do the same bullying routine in other international markets, then we could be at a serious economic and military disadvantage. Should we trust China and believe that they want to change for the better? Here is an article that may shed some light on that question. “China wants to suspend human rights talks with the United States. The news came after Washington said yesterday that it will condemn Beijing’s serious violations with a resolution at the UN Human Rights Commission currently underway in Geneva. The Chinese foreign minister called the action taken by the Americans a ‘serous meddling in China’s internal affairs. ’ China’s Vice Foreign7 Minister said the ‘clash intentionally provoked by the United States has now seriously damaged any basis for dialog and discussion on human rights issues between both countries. China must immediately suspend talks and discussion. ’ Yesterday, US State Department spokesperson, Richard Boucher, expressed the American government’s disappointment with Beijing’s inadequacies in improving human rights conditions in the country, after commitments it undertook in 2002 and 2003. Boucher also stressed Washington’s concern about ‘backward steps’ being taken by China, as reported in the American government’s world human rights report released last Feb. Last year the United States asked for a resolution, stating that Beijing had made limited, though significant progress in the sphere of human rights. The resolution was presented each year after the brutal repression of the student protestors in Tiananmen Square in June 1989. This year various human rights organizations, like Human Rights Watch, asked that the United States to put back a motion to blacklist Beijing. Even American trade union representatives requested that their government condemn China for the way it trades its labor force. Meanwhile Amnesty International called for a moratorium on the death penalty on China, reporting that the Chinese legal system does not guarantee fair trials and often punishes innocent persons. Yesterday the AI published a report titled ‘Executed according to law?’ ‘The report was released following statements made by a member of Chinese Parliament who said that every year there are at least 10,000 people sentenced to death in China 5 times more than all cases of capital punishment registered worldwide’. ”8The Chinese people are very much like our own with the exception that they communicate more through context and women are not valued very highly in their society. They also have four different cooking styles based on the four different regions. They speak different languages in each region, and they have a wide array of different traditions based on the former cultures that lived there before. China does not tolerate freedom of speech and they frequently kill anyone who is suspected on saying negative things about the current government. There is no defense orfair trial, and basic human rights are not valued by their government. Their economy is state controlled, but they are slowly changing into a free enterprise economy. I think that trading with China is mutually beneficial as long as they are not buying up significant amounts of raw materials that affect our national security. After the “911 attacks on New York and the Pentagon”, security measures at the ports are very strict in the US. 9 The Port of Tacoma and the Port of Seattle have cameras, tall fences, and security personal strategically placed. They also conduct more customs inspections than before, and canines are commonly used to find people and contraband. The US also has a satellite system that detects nuclear radiation, infrared (heat signatures), records and filters every electronic conversation in the US, and video records the activities of the world’s ports. They also pay very close attention to refrigerated and abnormally heavy containers for biological weapons and shielded nuclear material. China does not perform any significant security measures other than custom inspections accompanied by armed guards. Custom inspectors frequently accept bribes to expedite export and import processing, which creates a huge delay for companies who did not pay bribes or paid less. Dogs are also used for detecting contraband, but they use german sheppards instead of beagles. German sheppards are know to be effective in chasing down people and enforcing security. However, beagles have two hundred times the ability to smell contraband. This means that their port security is seriously lacking unless they physically inspect every crate, which they do not normally do whenever a bribe is taken to expedite the customs process. Recently, the Port of Tacoma purchased three cranes from China to unload containers off the ships. They purchased scrap iron from suppliers in Washington State, melted the iron down, manufactured the cranes, and sold them back to us for less than domestic companies could make them. Inventories of iron are currently state managed and exceed “70% of iron imports internationally”. 10 US laws regarding customs are identified as governing security measures domestically. Otherwise, maritime laws apply to shipments. The political ramifications of cutting off certain resources to China will make them an enemy. In order for the US to be effective at cutting off the massive purchasing campaign of iron by China, it will need allies who are all the current trading partners to do the same thing. However, this would also make them enemies of China, and suppliers are becoming very wealthy by selling their raw materials for a higher price to China. This means that international trading partners must have a significant reason to cut China off or limit them other than the US’s economic prosperity. Culturally we also have to consider that the Chinese want a better life, and they want independence. It is unlikely that the US will be able to push the Chinese government into giving their people human rights without completely replacing their government or waiting a significant number of years for their human rights policies to catch up with the rest of the civilized countries in the world. Geographically, China has taken over Hong Kong, which is the largest shipping location of Chinese imports and exports. The decision of the Chinese government to take over Hong Kong assures their ability to distribute goods internationally without major changes in worldwide distribution. Economically, we must understand that China has a lot to offer in terms of cheap labor and outsourcing, but it may come with a steep cost in the near future. Letters of credit are guaranteed by international banks in Malaysia and China based on current deposits. This insures payment on receipt of goods for both imports and exports. The global marketing process for government contracts is the same as it is in the US. Foreign bidders are required to send a proposal to the government authority issuing the contract. Whether they choose to buy or not from a foreign source is a balance between price driven economics and supporting local companies. China has no restrictions on the treatment of their employees, the ages of workers, the hours they work, the healthcare of employees or their working conditions. US employers must abide by laws concerning the treatment of minors, paying overtime, paying wages, paying health and unemployment benefits, discrimination, etc. Foreign investment in China is carefully controlled in specific sectors and industries. Foreign investment in the US is allowed as long as it does not negatively impact our national security. This is why the US government stopped China from purchasing a controlling position in the U. S. ’s primary oil supplier. However, it is almost a guarantee that they will try again. If you choose to do business in China, please carefully consider the implications of your actions. Making a great profit is very important, but it can never come at the expense of our lives, the lives of our children or the world’s stability and security. I think the world has a great opportunity everyday to change for the greater good, maybe our enemies will decide that building a better world for everyone is better than petty arguments over land, money and religion. BibliographyFlannery, Russell. At Your Service, China! New York, NY: Forbes, 2007Goodman, Peter S. China Ends Fixed-Rate Currency. Washington DC: Washington Post, 2005Hersh, Adam S. China’s currency manipulation and U. S. trade. Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute, 2003http://www. epinet. org/content. cfm/webfeatures_snapshots_archive_10302003seHill, Charles W. L. Global Business Today 5th Edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2008R. , M. Beijing suspends human rights talks with United States. Geneva: Asia News, 2004 http://www. asianews. it/view4print. php?l=en&art=524

China is compiled of a vast variety of extremely different landscapes, using mostly plateaus and mountains in the west, & lower lands on the east. As a effect, principal rivers flow From west to east, including the Yangtze (central), the Huang He (central-east), and the Amur (northeast), and every now and again toward the south (admitting the Pearl River, Mekong River, & Brahmaputra), by using most Chinese rivers emptying into the Pacific Ocean.

In the east, by the shores of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea there are extended and densely populated alluvial plains;. On the edges of the Inner Mongolian plateau in the northerly, grasslands may be seen. Southern China is dominated by hills & low mountain ranges. In the central-east are the deltas of China’s two major rivers, the Huang He & Yangtze River (Chang Jiang). to the highest degree of China’s arable lands lie by those rivers; they were the centers of China’s major ancient civilizations. Extra large rivers include the Pearl River, Mekong, Brahmaputra & Amur.

In the west, the northerly has a great alluvial plain, and the south has a vast calcareous tableland covered by hill ranges of moderate elevation, and the Himalayas, containing the highest point Mount Everest. The northwesterly also has high plateaus sustaining more arid desert landscapes such as the Takla-Makan and the Gobi Desert, which one has been expanding. During many dynasties, the southwestern border of China has been the high mounts and deep valleys of Yunnan, which one split modern China since Burma, Laos & Vietnam.

The Paleozoic formations of China, excepting only the upper separate of the Carboniferous system, are marine, when the Mesozoic and Tertiary deposits are estuarine and freshwater or even else of terrestrial origin. Groupings of volcanic cones occur in the awesome Plain of northerly China. In the Liaodong & Shandong Peninsulas, in that location are basaltic plateaus.

The climate of China varies greatly. The northern zone (containing Beijing) has winters of Arctic severity. The central zone (containing Shanghai) has a temperate clime. The southern zone (containing Guangzhou) has a subtropical climate.

Due to a prolonged drought & poor agricultural practices, dust storms have get usual in the spring in China. Dust has blown to southern China & Taiwan, and has even reached the West Coast of the United States. Water, erosion, & pollution control keep close at hand get crucial issues in China’s dealings by owning Other areas.

Confucianism was the official philosophy throughout virtually of Imperial China’s history, & mastery of Confucian texts was the main criterion for entry into the majestic bureaucracy. The literary emphasis of the exams impacted the general perception of cultural refinement in China, e. g. the look at that calligraphy was a higher art form than painting or drama. China’s traditional measures were derived Derived from various versions of Confucianism and conservatism. A number of further authoritarian strains of believed have as well been influential, such as Legalism.

There was typically dispute betwixt the philosophies, such as the individualistic Song Dynasty neo-Confucians, that thought Legalism departed since the original spirit of Confucianism. Examinations & a culture of merit stay greatly valued in China today. In recent years, a number of New Confucians use at times advocated that democratic ideals and human rights are quite well-matched by having traditional Confucian “Asian values”

Using the rise of Western economic and military power beginning in the mid-19th century, non-Chinese systems of social and political organization gained adherents in China. Some of those would-be reformers totally rejected China’s cultural legacy, whilst others sought to combine the strengths of Chinese & Western cultures. In center, the history of 20th century China is one of experimentation By using new systems of social, political, and economic administration that would permit for the reintegration of the country in the wake of dynastic collapse.

The first leaders of the PRC were born in the old society but were determined by the May Fourth Movement and reformist ideals. They sought to change A few traditional aspects of Chinese culture, such as rural land tenure, sexism, & Confucian education, while keeping others, such as the family structure & obedience to the state. numbers of observers think that the period following 1949 is a continuation of traditional Chinese dynastic history, while others say that the CPC’s rule has damaged the foundations of Chinese culture, especially through political movements such as the Cultural Revolution, where Several aspects of traditional culture were labeled “regressive & harmful” or “vestiges of feudalism” by the regime.

They further argue that Many crucial aspects of traditional Chinese morals and culture, like Confucianism, Chinese art, literature, & playing arts like Beijing opera house, were altered to conform to regime policies and communist propaganda. The institution of the Simplified Chinese orthography reform is controversial too. Today, the PRC authorities has accepted much of traditional Chinese culture as an integral part of Chinese society, lauding it as an crucial accomplishment of the Chinese civilization and emphasizing it as existence vital to the formation of a Chinese interior identity.

Fine art, scholarship, and literature

Chinese characters have had Many variants & styles throughout Chinese history. Tens of thousands of ancient compose documents are still extant, from Oracle bones to Qing edicts. Calligraphy is a major art variety in China, further extremely regarded than painting & music. Manuscripts of the Classics and religious texts (mainly Confucian, Taoist, & Buddhist) were handwritten by ink brush. Calligraphy later became commercialized, & works by famous artists became prized ownerships.

Printmaking was evolved During the Song Dynasty. Academies of scholars sponsored by the empire were organized to comment on the classics in two printed and handwritten form. Royalty frequently took part in these discussions.

For centuries, economic & social advancement in China could be supplied by high up performance on the majestic examinations. This headed to a meritocracy, although it was available only to males who could afford test readying. imperial examinations expected applicants to write essays and demonstrate mastery of the Confucian classics. Those that passed the top level of the exam turned elite scholar-officials known as jinshi, a extremely esteemed socio-economic status.

Chinese philosophers, writers, and poets were extremely respected, and played key roles in preserving & advancing the culture of the empire. A few classical scholars, however, were noted for their daring depictions of the lives of the most common people, often to the displeasure of authorities.

Sports and recreation

At that place is grounds to believe that a variety of football (i. e. soccer) was first played in China around 1000 CE, leading Numerous historians to suppose that it originated there. Besides football, the most mainstream sports are martial Arts, table tennis, badminton, basketball, U. S. football, & extra lately, golf. Basketball is especially mainstream By owning the young, in urban centers where space is limited. The NBA has a great following & Many idolize Yao Ming.

There are also Several traditional sports. Chinese dragon boat racing occurs during the Duan Wu festival. In Inner Mongolia, Mongolian-style grappling & horse racing are popular. In Tibet, archery & equestrian athleticses are part of traditional festivals.

China has turn into a athleticses power in the Asian region & around the world. China finished 1st in medal counts in each of the Asian Games as 1982,& in the top four in medal numbers in each of the Summer Olympic Games as 1992. The 2008 Summer Olympics, formally acknowledge as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, will be carried in Beijing, China.

Physical good condition is extremely regarded. Morning exercisings are a most common activity & the elderly are often seen practicing qigong in parks.

Board games such as International Chess, Go (Weiqi), and Xiangqi (Chinese chess) are also mutual and have organised formal rivalries.

Insight

The reality of business is that companies must do more with less to stay competitive and continually search out new ways to improve products and time-to-market to lead their markets. Top companies have long found it makes good business sense to outsource a business function — from making parts to delivering payroll — to wherever it can be done the best. With the Telecommunications Act of 1996 came the wave of fiber-optic cable and a new capability that truly enabled the IT departments of U. S. companies to plug into offshore outsourcing firms and take advantage of lower wages and cost efficiencies.

Many of these same companies have R&D departments developing embedded software and hardware and now the CTOs want to leverage offshore vendors to not only reap the same benefits of lower wages and expanded productivity, but bring better products to market sooner. Although the potential benefits are there, companies must consider two things before offshoring embedded R&D technology. First, the requirements of an R&D department that does embedded technology development for the marketplace and those of an IT department that serves employees are not the same. Second, a country’s human capital may be good quality for IT projects, but may not be the best choice to meet the higher skill levels required for R&D embedded technology.

Basically, the technology offshoring choices boils down to two: China or India. China is known as “the world’s factory” and produces $60 billion worth of consumer electronic goods a year. India, known as “the offshore call center,” is the acknowledged leader in IT and business process outsourcing (BPO). 1

Whether a CTO is searching for an offshore outsourcing vendor for a single project or a long-term partnership, the vendor’s country should be a significant part of the due diligence.

Engineering Talent Pool

The highly respected National Academies notes in an October, 2005 report that a company could potentially employ five chemists in China or 11 engineers in India for the cost of one chemist or engineer in the United States. Wages are lower offshore, there’s no question about that. Long Circle, however, suggests that companies must look further and examine additional important criteria when searching for the best country to outsource embedded product research and development technology.

? Pay attention to attrition and wages

The number one reason most companies send work offshore is because wages are less. Experts recommend that engineering wages stay within the range of 20 to 50 percent lower than wages in the U. S. to make offshoring worthwhile. However an important factor to keep in mind is that the rules of supply and demand apply in offshoring and inevitably result in rising wages.

According to a report released in June, 2005 by management consulting company McKinsey and Company, India faces a shortage of middle managers due to the growth of India’s IT industry by approximately 20 percent annually over the last 10 years. Wages for IT project managers have increased by 23 percent annually over the last four years. 2

Attrition rates in India have been estimated at anywhere from 20 percent to 50 percent. Turnover is a problem and many firms are looking for ways to retain their workers in addition to increased wages. According to a Businessweek article in February, 2005, India: Good Help Is Hard To Find, a prominent vendor is using creative ways to hire middle managers and to reduce attrition — from finding homes for new hires to helping their children with school admissions.

Industry analysts acknowledge that India is the seasoned player in offshore IT technology and wages are rising, while China is newer to the offshoring industry and wages in China are lower.

? Is the R&D pool deep enough, with enough new graduates and experienced engineers?

Although both China and India have excellent universities and engineering programs, a very real concern for a company looking to offshore embedded systems R&D development is: Does this country have a large enough pool of R&D engineers, both new graduates and young engineers with seven years or less of experience? If not, supply and demand may eventually drive the costs up and possibly impact deadlines.

New graduates. The exact number of four-year engineering graduates each country produces yearly is open to debate.

The statistics cited in the first row of the chart below have been widely quoted in the media, from Fortune Magazine to a speech by Senator Ted Kennedy. However according to the Wall Street Journal online, these figures are misleading and no one can track down a concrete and reliable source for where the numbers originated.

Engineering Graduates China India United States

Source: Unknown 600,000 350,000 70,000

Source: Duke University 352,000 112,000 137,000

The statistics in the second row of the chart are from a study released in December, 2005 by Duke University (and also widely quoted in the media, including The Christian Science Monitor) that cites different numbers for the engineering graduates in each country.

Regardless of the actual number, statistics show that China produces the most engineering graduates each year.

Experienced engineers. The offshore country’s workforce must have depth of experience as well. In a press release issued in February to review the industry’s performance during 2005, NASSCOM said that in India, IT service workers clearly dominate engineering R&D workers. According to NASSCOM, in 2005 there were 316,000 workers in the ITES-BPO segment and only 93,000 workers in the engineering services and R&D and software products segment. This trend is expected to continue during 2006.

By comparison, a McKinsey and Company report says that four percent of the total university-educated workforce in India has an engineering degree, compared to 33 percent in China. 2

When selecting an offshore vendor for embedded technology, the vendor must not only have sufficient human capital (both new graduates and experienced engineers) to complete the development project, but the experience of the workforce must be product research and development, instead of merely IT experience.

University educated workforce

with engineering degree:

India: 4%

China: 33 %

? Potential culture and language barriers

Although engineers do not necessarily require a good command of English to perform their job, communication could be an obstacle unless there are English-speaking employees at points-of-contact with the customer.

In India, English (although not American English) is the second language and companies can expect offshore employees to communicate well.

While English is not as common for the average Chinese citizen, the situation is different for college graduates in China. To be admitted to college in China, high school graduates take five exams, and three of those exams — Chinese literature, math, and English — are required. To attend the top universities, students must obtain near perfect scores on their exams — including English. The result is that top university graduates in China do have good English language skills.

Infrastructure: How are the roads and the utilities?

On August 8, 2008, the world will focus on China when the 2008 Summer Olympic Games begin in Beijing. China is taking great pride in hosting the Olympic Games and is focusing on improving infrastructure for the expected visitors from around the world.

According to news reports:

• Beijing will spend an estimated $38 billion for new urban infrastructure, including building and renovating roads and railroads, building subway and light rail lines and building sites for Olympic venues.

• Natural gas will replace many coal-burning heating plants.

• A third airport terminal in Beijing will double the airport’s capacity.

India’s infrastructure, on the other hand, is generally viewed as lacking. For example, the International Diamond Exchange (IDEX) noted in a recent online report that although India potentially could become the leading market for diamonds in the future, India currently faces major obstacles such as India’s heavy dependence on imported energy and poor infrastructure. IDEX laments, “India’s infrastructure is dismal. For example, roads are poor and land-based communications don’t work. ”

However, according to an article on indiadaily. com, “… improving India’s potholed highways, congested ports and erratic telecommunications and blackout-plagued power service is vital to drawing foreign investment and bolstering the economy further, economists say. ” The Indian government has forecasted growth of 6. 9 percent during the year ending March 31, 2005, which means India has the second-fasted growing economy after China. 4

When evaluating outsourcing vendors, companies should keep in mind that U. S. personnel will undoubtedly visit the vendor’s offshore facilities from time to time.

Intellectual Property Protection

Both India and China have reputations that are less than stellar when it comes to protecting intellectual property. China especially is notorious for copyright infringement. However media sources reported recently that an intellectual property milestone was reached when a U. S. business was sued for patent infringement in Texas federal court by a mainland Chinese plaintiff. Experts predict that when Chinese companies begin to police their own IP infringement, the Chinese government will become more vigilant in protecting the intellectual property of foreign countries within China.

China’s membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) is also viewed as driving reform.

Companies should scrutinize a potential vendor’s security protocols to ensure that a potential vendor adheres to the best-of-class security protocols found in U. S. companies.

Conclusion

When early outsourcing projects involved IT and Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) the majority of companies turned to India. However, outsourcing IT development and BPO is not the same as outsourcing embedded product research and development; that’s comparing apples to oranges. The requirements and skill levels are not the same. Companies must evaluate not only the outsourcing vendor’s qualifications, but the vendor’s offshore location as well to ensure companies realize the value they want to achieve. Long Circle recommends for a company’s R&D department to realize the greatest return on their outsourcing investment, there is no better place in the world than China.

About Long Circle

Long Circle provides outsourced engineering services to companies whose products and services rely on embedded software and hardware technology. Long Circle and the Long Circle China Center of Excellence enables U. S. companies to reduce costs, increase engineering bandwidth, and broaden market reach by providing low-risk, strategic access to China’s engineering talent, manufacturing industry, and emerging markets. To learn more about Long Circle, visit http://www. longcircle. com.