Jason, no, I've never been to China. But I do know some Chinese, and it is clear that going to China doesn't help you to find out what is really happening. To the Chinese, face is everything. Of course all those entrepreneurs are "making it", backed no doubt by huge quantities of debt, just as our entrepreneurs did.
Do I need to go to Cyprus to know how bad the banking crisis is their? Or Spain to see the housing situation at first hand to appreciate the problem? No. Moreover, you won't find out anything simply by visiting China, or taking statements from the media at face value. ALL Chinese statistics are massaged and meaningless, and that is official:
"China's GDP figures are "man-made" and therefore unreliable, the man who is expected to be the country's next head of government said in 2007, ..... Li, who is now a vice premier, focused on just three data points to evaluate Liaoning's economy: electricity consumption, rail cargo volume and bank lending.
"By looking at these three figures, Li said he can measure with relative accuracy the speed of economic growth. All other figures, especially GDP statistics, are 'for reference only,' he said smiling,"
Li is now the Premier of the People's Republic of China.
So all the talk about REE quotas, closing production, environmental concerns ... we will see in time what actually occurs. In previous years, the quotas have always been exceeded (page 19):
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R41347.pdf
LYC Price at posting:
52.5¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
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