Op/Ed Commentary: Chris Devonshire-Ellis

Jun. 8 – The recent problems caused by the non-issuance of Indian visas to Chinese workers raises several issues, the most important of which is largely being ignored by the Indian government. To explain the impasse, Chinese construction companies have been engaging in several build-operate-transfer (BOT) contracts with Indian companies and on some occasions, local governments. With the package often including Chinese labor, the total bundled up contract represents a one stop shop for India-based infrastructure projects, with the entire project being handled by the Chinese contractor.

Things have got murky by the Chinese habit (no doubt factored into the contract price) of bringing to India hundreds if not thousands of workers to actually take on the task. Typically living in temporary shanty towns, they are Chinese managed, fed, transported from place to place and paid. It’s an excellent and attractive solution to getting infrastructure projects completed with a minimum of fuss and usually on schedule. The only fly in the ointment has been the visa issue – such workers have typically been working in India without the required visa documentation in place. A lack of work visa contravenes their terms of stay and places them outside the solid jurisdiction of India’s tax laws, which require individual income tax payments for workers in the country. » Read rest of the article

Jun. 7 – General Motors India announced a 61 percent increase in sales in May, selling 8,225 units in last month against 5,109 units in May 2009.

Gm sold 2,812 Chevrolet Sparks, 2,296 Chevrolet Beats, 1,418 Chevrolet Taveras, 854 Cruzes, 396 Chevrolet Aveos, 312 Chevrolet Aveo U-VAs , 84 Chevrolet Captivas and 53 Chevrolet Optras.

According to the American automaker, the increase in sales was primarily driven by the demand for the extremely popular Chevrolet brands Beat, Cruze and Spark. The Beat and Cruze have become the industry benchmarks in their respective segments and a winner among consumers in India. » Read rest of the article

Jun. 2 – The Indian government agreed yesterday to allow the importation of telecommunications gear from China while at the same time implementing new security screening measures, effectively ending an unofficial ban on Chinese telecom vendors.

Equipment from China will now have to be tested and certified by an international security agency such as Canada’s Electronic Warfare Associates, Israel’s ALTAL Security Consulting, or Infoguard based out of the United States, until India’s National Informatics Center (NIC) can set up a dedicated domestic certification and diagnostics lab. » Read rest of the article

Jun. 2 – China and India have emerged as the preferred route for foreign investment as the world continues to recover from the Global Financial Crisis, a new report from Ernst & Young states.

The report, released today, ranked China as the most attractive foreign direct investment destination for 2010, edging ahead of Western Europe, in the survey of 814 companies.

India tied with North America in fourth after Central and Eastern Europe in third. Both China and India’s rankings improved on 2009’s survey, when companies were more adverse to risk. » Read rest of the article

Jun. 1 – Ford and Mazda are recalling more than 230,000 vehicles made by their China joint venture to fix a software problem blamed for bouts of engine failure, China’s product-safety watchdog said.

China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine announced on their web site that the companies are recalling 236,643 Focus cars made between August 2008 and May 28 of this year. » Read rest of the article

SHANGHAI, May 31 – Indian President Pratibha Patil concluded her visit to China today by calling for India and China to work together towards a long-term economic partnership.

Speaking at the India-China Business Forum in Shanghai, what she called an “appropriate conclusion” to her six-day visit, the president said that “India stands ready to do more business.” The speech followed a Sunday meeting with Yu Zhengsheng, the ruling Communist Party’s chief for Shanghai, in which Patil called for greater market access for Indian goods in the Chinese market. » Read rest of the article

By Christian Fleming

May 26 – Microsoft Corporation’s CEO Steve Ballmer expressed his frustrations with China in a recent interview, specifically touching on the country’s lack of progress in the fight against intellectual property theft and piracy. The head of the world’s largest software maker went on to say that Microsoft is much more interested in countries like India, where there is still a degree of piracy, but much less than the levels the company is currently experiencing in China.

“India is not perfect, but the intellectual property protection in India is far, far better than it would be in China,” Mr. Ballmer said in an interview with Business Week in Hanoi, Vietnam on Monday. “China is a less interesting market to us than India, than Indonesia.” » Read rest of the article

May 18 – China increased its holdings of U.S. securities this past March for the first time since September 2009, according to a report delivered by the United States Treasury Department on Monday.

Official data show the United States offloaded a record US$140.5 billion in long-term securities on the month, of which China contributed US$17.7 billion. Despite similar purchases from other countries, China remains the world’s largest holder of U.S. Treasury debt with the latest acquisition putting them at a grand total of US$895.2 billion. The hefty sum currently remains below China’s high of US$939.9 billion seen in July 2009, but some experts predict that China may surpass that sum as they continue to purchase U.S. debt in the coming months. » Read rest of the article

May 13 – Companies have been moving overseas for decades, looking to reduce costs and increase revenue by outsourcing production. And as China and India continue their rise to become global economic powers, the trend continues. But rather than American companies moving to India and China to save money, now Chinese corporations are looking at the United States as a land of opportunity and cost savings.

Yes, not Africa or Southeast Asia, though there are plenty of Chinese companies in those locations already, but America. And by Chinese standards, the Land of Lincoln is cheap. » Read rest of the article

May 6 – German luxury automakers BMW, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz have reported tremendous monthly and quarterly sales figures in the world’s largest auto market.

Bavarian Motor Group, which also includes the Mini and Rolls Royce brands, more than doubled year on year auto sales for April with a monthly growth rate of 115 percent. The 12,440 cars sold in the month brought the group’s total quarterly sales figures in China to 46,619, up from the 26,369 in the first quarter of 2009. The core BMW brand accounted for roughly 94 percent of the group’s monthly and quarterly sales. » Read rest of the article