Category: China

Chinese Investments in Africa

China continues to generate controversy with its rapidly growing investments in Africa, and the country has emerged as Africa’s largest trading partner for primarily energy and minerals. At the same time, there is a growing volume of Chinese direct investment in Africa. The ever-impressive Brookings institute published an interesting blog article on the topic earlier… Continue reading Chinese Investments in Africa

China’s Growth Is Slowing

China released grim economic data this weekend suggesting that the economy will further weakness in the months ahead. The worst of the data concerns industrial production, which slowed to its lowest level since the crises year 2008. According to Westpac’s Singapore-based strategist Jonathan Cavenagh, over the weekend China released industrial production (IP), fixed asset investment… Continue reading China’s Growth Is Slowing

11 Mind-Blowing Facts About China

Business Insider has recently made a video with some amazing facts about China. This most populous country in the world, and its 1.35 billion nationals consume copious amounts of food and resources, and here are some mind-blowing facts that prove this: Only one time zone- Beijing Standard Time China geographically spans five time zones and there were… Continue reading 11 Mind-Blowing Facts About China

China embarks on the route of Design as driver for Innovation and Sustainable Growth

Last week I was invited by the Dragon Design Foundation in Beijing, People’s Republic of China (PRC), to attend and give a speech at the 2014 World Green Design Forum Summit in Yangzhou. I have for the last ten days had the opportunity and great pleasure to take part in and exchange thoughts, ideas and… Continue reading China embarks on the route of Design as driver for Innovation and Sustainable Growth

3D printer used to build houses in China

A construction firm in Shanghai has developed a house that can be mass produced by a giant 3D printer. The company uses a mixture of cement and construction waste to build its houses, which costs below $5000 USD per unit. The walls, structure and base of the houses are entirely a product of 3D printing.… Continue reading 3D printer used to build houses in China

2013 is a pivotal year for where we have Economic Growth

“Whether a nation be today mighty and rich or not depends not on the abundance or security of its power and riches, but principally on whether its neighbours possess more or less of it.” – Phillipp von Hornigk, writing in Prussia in 1684 The quote above is worth to consider. It was written in a… Continue reading 2013 is a pivotal year for where we have Economic Growth

Update on development aid to Africa

Not so long ago, most official aid to poor countries was provided by rich Western governments that carefully report what they give and to whom. However recent years have seen a rapid increase in aid from non-Western sources that do not always prioritise transparency. A new report from the Centre for Global Development (CGD) attempts… Continue reading Update on development aid to Africa

Millennium Development Goal achieved – What’s next?

Last year we received some fantastic news. It seems that the UN’s first Millennium Development Goal of cutting the 1990 extreme-poverty rate in half by 2015 has already been achieved. This means that the proportion of people living in extreme poverty (living on $1.25 or less a day) has been reduced from 43 % in 1990… Continue reading Millennium Development Goal achieved – What’s next?