China’s manufacturing output fell sharply in November, just the latest sign that the global economic slowdown is impacting on its economy.

The official purchasing managers’ index declined to 38.8 in November, from 44.6 in October, with any figure under 50 indicating a contraction.

The fall was caused by a sharp drop in new orders, especially from abroad.

China’s President Hu Jintao has warned that the global financial crisis is hitting the country’s competitiveness.

BBC

China uses a tremendous amount of coal. And they do not have the technology in place to burn it cleanly. You will also recall the frequent mine collapses that kill dozens or hundreds of miners each time.

After efforts by geological exploration teams for over a year, an ultra large coal field with a forecasted 23 billion tons of total reserve was found in the famous Turfan Basin in China.

Reporters learnt from the Department of Land and Resources of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region that, the newly-discovered coal field is located in the Sha’er Lake in Piqan County of Turfan Region in Xinjiang.

The coal mine occupies an area of over 300 square kilometers with a gross minable thickness of 169.69 meters, and a coal bearing ratio of 29%, with the largest coal bed being 141.91 meters thick in a single layer.

In China, a coal field with over 50 million tons of reserve is defined as an ultra large coal field. Sha’er Lake coal field has a forecasted reserve of 23 billion tons placing it into the category of an ultra large coal field at the national level. The People’s Government of Autonomous Region has now listed Sha’er Lake as the key coal exploration area in Xinjiang, and it will be deployed, explored and excavated with an overall plan.

Peoples Daily

More news about violence and turmoil in China.

Beijing officials routinely cite 8% GDP growth as the level needed to sustain employment. China’s growth rate is currently hovering around 9%, its lowest in seven years, and many expect next year’s figure to be lower. Efforts to boost GDP include Sunday’s announcement that the country will spend $1.4 trillion to stimulate the economy. Reliable unemployment figures are not available, but factory closures appear to be up: 67,000 small- and medium-size enterprises have shuttered in the first half of this year, according to government statistics. Thousands of workers at a diesel factory in Jiangsu province protested this month because of concerns over potential layoffs.

A closer look at what happened in Longnan last week shows why protests are likely to intensify as people become unhappier. The violence began when 30 people whose land had been seized as part of a government redevelopment scheme began to protest. Without an independent legal system, public protests are often the only recourse for people who feel they have been wronged.

Others joined in, until thousands filled the streets. Many were protesting a government plan to move their offices out of the city, which they felt would harm their livelihoods. After two days of riots, 71 police officers were injured and 22 cars were burned or destroyed, according to state media. It’s unknown how many protesters were hurt. Thirty protesters have been detained, but they won’t be privileged to fair trials.

Wall Street Journal

It is fair to say that most of the incidents of unrest in the Chinese population are never reported. It is difficult to estimate that number but it is safe to say that those reported have increased in number over the last several years. unrest in the population is one of the signs of the coming collapse of the current government.

Chinese leaders have finally admitted that the country is facing a “grim” situation on the employment front owing to the global economic crisis. An official survey has shown that demand for labour has fallen 5.5% in the third quarter of this year across 84 different cities.

Yin Weimin, head of the ministry of human resources said that labour discontent was a “top concern” of the government as the employment situation has turned “grim”.

The government is clearly worried that unrest among jobless workers would result in protest demonstrations and unruly scenes. The past weeks have seen strikes by taxi drivers in four cities and a workers’ riot at the party headquarters in Gansu province.

China has nearly 150 million migrant workers, who have left their rural homes in central and west China to work in the factories of South China. The extent of unemployment caused in factories cutting back production following loss of export orders is still not known. But the number might prove to be big enough to cause social tension, sources said.

Times of India

The recent weather problems, and crop failures, have begun to affect the Chinese economy.

BBC

Chinese inflation hit an 11-year high in January after rising price pressures were exacerbated by fierce snow storms, official figures show.
Soaring food prices were largely blamed for pushing consumer inflation up to 7.1% last month, from 6.5% in December.

Inflation in China continues to rise despite higher interest rates and other measures by Beijing to keep the economy from overheating.

The worst winter for decades hit food supplies, sending food costs up 18%.

Massive snowfalls wrecked crops and killed millions of livestock.

But analysts cautioned that the severe weather was not the only factor behind rising food costs, and warned that prices could still increase further.

The Chinese economy is a balancing act. All of the factors that support its massive growth have to be in balance or the economy is seriously threatened. To my surprise, it’s the weather and costs driven up by Chinese demand that are the problem.

Had I thought a little bit harder, I would have realized that the increase in world commodity prices caused by China’s overwhelming demand would eventually affect China. With various metals, oil and other commodities reaching record highs, China is now in a bind.

While China does not supply all its food needs, in many categories it is self-sufficient. Now, with their weather woes, the Chinese will be forced to supplement their internal production on the world market. At the same time they are already forced to buy other necessary food and materials for consumer use and to support infrastructure growth.

Is there enough money? And, how long will the Chinese people wait? Civil unrest is one of the signs I have predicted that will foreshadow either a general collapse of Chinese society, or war by the Peking regime to obtain more cash reserves and raw materials.

China is so big that effects that would stagger the United States have much less of a result. There is a tipping point for any country, no matter how large. It is unlikely that this is it, but it is certainly a sign of things to come.