Geneva Conference (1954)

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Geneva (Photo credit: Alan M Hughes)[/caption]

The Geneva Conference (April 26 – July 20, 1954^[1]) was a conference which took place in Geneva, Switzerland, whose purpose was to attempt to find a way to unify Vietnam and discuss the possibility of restoring peace in Indochina.^[2] The Soviet Union, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and the People’s Republic of China were participants throughout the whole conference while different countries concerned with the two questions were also represented during the discussion of their respective questions,^[3] which included the countries that sent troops through the United Nations to the Korean War and the various countries that ended the First Indochina War between France and the Việt Minh. The part of the conference on the Korean question ended without adopting any declarations or proposals. Some participants and analysts blamed the US for having obstructed movements towards the unification of Korea as a communist state.^[3][4][5] On Indochina, the conference produced a set of documents known as the Geneva Accords. These agreements separated Vietnam into two zones, a northern zone to be governed by the Viet Minh, and a southern zone to be governed by the State of Vietnam, then headed by former emperor Bảo Đại. A "Conference Final Declaration", issued by the British chairman of the conference, provided that a "general election" be held by July 1956 to create a unified Vietnamese state. Although presented as a consensus view, this document was not accepted by the delegates of either South Vietnam or the United States. In addition, three separate ceasefire accords, covering Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, were signed at the conference

Korea

Main article: Korean War

The armistice signed at end of the Korean War required a political conference within three months—a timeline which was not met—“to settle through negotiation the questions of the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Korea, the peaceful settlement of the Korean question, etc.”^[6]

[edit]Indochina

Main article: First Indochina War

Geneva Conference

After the defeat of the Japanese Empire in 1945, the Provisional Government of the French Republic restored colonial rule in French Indochina. Nationalist and communist movements in Vietnam led to the First Indochina War in 1946. This colonial war between the French Union's Expeditionary Corps and Hồ Chí Minh's Việt Minh guerrillas turned into a Cold War crisis in January 1950.^[7] The communist Việt Minh received support from the newly proclaimed People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union, while France and the newly created Vietnamese National Army received support from the United States.

The Battle of Điện Biên Phủ started on March 13, 1954 and continued during the conference. Its issue became a strategic turnover as both sides wanted to emerge as the victor and forge a favorable position for the planned negotiations about “the Indochinese problem”. After fighting for 55 days, the besieged French garrison was overrun and all French central positions were captured by the Việt Minh.

This war was significant in that it starkly demonstrated the reality that a Western colonial power could be defeated by an indigenous revolutionary force; the French previously pacified a similar uprising in the Madagascar colony in March, 1947. A few months after the fall of Điện Biên Phủ, troops were deployed in Algeria and a second guerrilla-warfare-based war of independence started in November 1954. Growing distrust and defiance among the army's Chief of Staff toward the Fourth French Republic after the contested defeat of the First Indochina War led to two military coups d'état in March 1958 and April 1961. Most of the rebel generals were Indochina veterans, including their leader, Raoul Salan.

On the Korean question

The South Korean representative proposed that the South Korean government was the only legal government in Korea, that UN-supervised elections should be held in the North, that Chinese forces should withdraw, and that UN forces—a belligerent party to the war—should remain as a police force. The North Korean representative suggested that elections be held throughout all of Korea, that all foreign forces leave beforehand, that the elections be run by an all-Korean Commission that is made up of equal parts from North and South Korea, and to generally increase relations economically and culturally between the North and the South. The Chinese delegation proposed an amendment to have a group of “neutral nations” supervise the elections, which the North accepted. The U.S. supported the South Korean position and saying that the USSR wanted to turn North Korea into a puppet state. Most allies remained silent and at least one, Britain, thought that the U.S.-South Korean proposal would be deemed unreasonable. The South Korean representative then made a new proposal where there would be all-Korea elections but that they would be held according to South Korean constitutional procedures and still under UN-supervision. On June 15, the last day of the conference on the Korean question, the USSR and China both submitted declarations in support of a unified, democratic, independent Korea, and that negotiations to that end should resume at an appropriate time. The Belgian and British delegations said that while they were not going to accept “the Soviet and Chinese proposals, that did not mean a rejection of the ideas they contained.”In the end, however, no declaration was adopted. Some participants and analysts suggest that the U.S. obstructed efforts towards a peace agreement.Korea remains divided to this day.

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Yellow-browed Bunting

The Yellow-Browed Bunting (Emberiza chrysophrys) is a passerine bird in the bunting family (Emberizidae), a group now separated by most modern taxonomists from the finches (Fringillidae).

It breeds in eastern Siberia, and is migratory, wintering in central and southern China. It is a very rare wanderer to western Europe.

The Yellow-Browed Bunting breeds in the taiga zone, and lays four eggs in an arboreal nest. In the wild, the adults' diet consists of seeds, but they feed insects to nestlings.

This bird is smaller than a Reed Bunting, but relatively large-headed. The upper parts are brown and heavily streaked, and the underparts are white with an orange hue on the flanks and some fine dark streaks. Their stout beaks are pink.

The breeding male has a black head with white crown and moustachial stripes and throat. There is a bright yellow eyebrow stripe. Females and young birds have a weaker head pattern, with brown instead of black, and can be confused with Little Bunting; however, there is always some yellow in the eyebrow, as well as at least a hint of a white stripe on the crown.

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If China catches a cold…

China has defied predictions of a hard economic landing for some time now so it is somewhat unsettling to see  investors positioning for a sharp slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.

Over the last 10 years, the world has become accustomed to Chinese annual GDP growth of above 9 percent. A seemingly insatiable demand for commodities from soya beans to iron ore has catapulted the Asian giant to near the top of the global trade table. China is the biggest trading partner for countries on nearly every continent, from Angola to Australia.

But many are now fretting that an unhappy coincidence between stuttering global demand and domestic strains in the property and banking sectors could knock Chinese growth to below 7 percent (the level commonly identified as a ‘hard landing’), with grave implications for the rest of the world.

“It used to be the case that if the US sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold. But with the US already confined to the emergency room since 2008 thequestion is what happens if China catches a cold,” says Citi in a recent report.

Many are now preparing for the first sneeze.

Commodity exporters are expected to bear the brunt of a sharp Chinese slowdown. Investors have pared back exposure to Brazil, Russia, Chile and South Africa, citing fears over China.

On the flipside, Turkey, Mexico, Israel and India have been identified as less vulnerable.

Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (中国铝业公司)

Aluminum Corporation of China Limited, also known as Chalco or Chinalco (SEHK: 2600, NYSE: ACH, SSE: 601600), is a multinational aluminum company headquartered in Beijing, People's Republic of China. It is the world’s second-largest alumina producer (and the only producer in China) and third-largest primary aluminum producer (and the largest producer in China).[4]
Chinalco is principally engaged in the extraction of aluminum oxide, electrolyzation of virgin aluminum and the processing and production of aluminum.
Its primary listing is on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and it is a constituent of the SSE 50 index. It has secondary listings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange.
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Operations
3 References
4 External links
[edit]History

Aluminum Corporation of China (CHINALCO) is a state-backed holding company established to be the primary aluminium producer in the People's Republic of China in 2001. [5]It is the parent company of Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (CHALCO) which is listed on the New York, Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges.[6]
With effect from 10 June 2008, Chalco was added to the Hang Seng Index Constituent Stock (blue chip).[7]
Chinalco is investing $3 billion to begin open-cast mining operations, within three to four years, in Morococha District, Peru. The company plans to extract copper ore from Mount Toromocho.[8]
Chinalco holds a 9% stake in the Anglo-Australian mining company Rio Tinto.[9] Rio Tinto controls large Iron ore reserves in Australia. On June 5, Rio Tinto broke a deal for Chinalco to purchase a larger stake in the company, with support by rival Anglo-Australian mining company BHP Billiton. Rio Tinto is expected to pay a US$195 million breaking fee according to the contract signed earlier by the two parties.[10]
[edit]Operations

Chinalco operates its business through three segments: aluminum oxide segment, producing and selling aluminum oxide, aluminum hydroxide and gallium; virgin aluminum, providing virgin aluminum, carbon element products and aluminum alloys, and aluminum processing segment, offering casting products, slab band products, foils, squeezing products, forging products, powder products and die-casting products.
Chinalco's gallium products include gallium metal and gallium oxide.
Chinalco also provides remelted aluminum ingots.
Chinalco products are applied in construction, electricity, packaging, transportation, nondurable consumer goods, hard board material, wire and cable, ceramics, refractory material, laundry, petrochemical, and aerospace industries.

Air China

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Air China (SEHK: 0753, LSE: AIRC, SSE: 601111) (simplified Chinese: 中国国际航空公司; traditional Chinese: 中國國際航空公司; pinyin: Zhōngguó Guójì Hángkōng Gōngsī; literally "China International Airlines Company", abbreviated 国航) is the flag carrier and one of the major airlines of the People's Republic of China. Based in Beijing Capital International Airport, Air China is the world's 10th largest airline by fleet size. The airline ranked behind its main competitors China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines in terms of total passengers carried. However, Air China is the most profitable airline in the world, as well as the world's largest carrier by market value.[1][2]
The enterprise logo of Air China consists of an artistic phoenix pattern, the Chinese name of the airline written in calligraphy by former national leader Deng Xiaoping, and “AIR CHINA” in English. The phoenix logo is also the artistic transfiguration of the word “VIP”. Air China is a member of the Star Alliance.
In 2010, Air China carried 60 million domestic and international passengers with an average load factor of 80%. The airline reported a net profit of 12 billion yuan (USD $1.83 billion) in 2010.[3]
Contents [hide]
1 History and development
2 Destinations
2.1 Codeshare agreements
3 Fleet
3.1 Retired
4 Phoenix Miles
5 Cargo
6 Incidents and accidents
7 See also
8 References
9 External links
9.1 Profiles
[edit]History and development



Air China Boeing 747-400


Air China Boeing 747-400


Air China Airbus A321-200


Air China Airbus A340-300


Air China Boeing 737-800
Air China was established on 1 July 1988 as a result of the Chinese government's late 1987 decision to split the operating divisions of Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) into six separate airlines: Air China, China Eastern, China Southern, China Northern, China Southwest, and China Northwest.[4] Air China was given chief responsibility for intercontinental flights and took over the CAAC's long haul aircraft (Boeing 747s, 767s, and 707s) and routes.
In January 2001, the former CAAC's ten airlines announced they had agreed on a merger plan,[5] according to which Air China was to acquire China Southwest Airlines. Before the acquisition, Air China was the country's fourth largest domestic airline. The merger created a group with assets of 56 billion yuan (USD $8.63 billion), and a fleet of 118 aircraft.[6] In October 2002, Air China consolidated with the China National Aviation Corporation and China Southwest Airlines.[7]
On 15 December 2004, Air China was successfully listed on the Hong Kong and London Stock Exchanges. The airline also listed its shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange on 18 August 2006.
In 2006, Air China signed an agreement to join the Star Alliance. It became a member of the alliance on 12 December 2007 alongside Shanghai Airlines.
In July 2009, Air China acquired $19.3 million of shares from its troubled subsidiary Air Macau, lifting its stake in the carrier from 51% to 80.9%.[8] One month later, Air China spent HK$6.3 billion (USD $813 million) to raise its stake in Cathay Pacific from 17.5 percent to 29.99 percent, expanding its presence in Hong Kong.[9]
In April 2010, Air China completed the increase of shareholdings in Shenzhen Airlines and became the controlling shareholder of Shenzhen Airlines, which allowed Air China to further enhance its position in Beijing, Chengdu, and Shanghai and to achieve a more balanced domestic network.[10]
On 2 December 2010, Air China received Spain's highest tourism industry award, the "Plaque for Tourist Merit". Air China was the first foreign airline to receive the award, which is given to organisations and individuals for contributing to the Spanish tourism industry.[11]
On 23 December 2010, Air China became the first Chinese airline to offer combined tickets that include domestic flights and shuttle bus services to nearby cities. The first combined flight-shuttle bus ticket connected Tianjin via shuttle bus with domestic flights passing through Beijing.[12]
[edit]Destinations

Main article: Air China destinations
Air China's route network extends throughout Asia to the Middle East, Western Europe, and North America from its main hub at Beijing Capital International Airport. It also currently reaches a significant number of Asian, Australian and European destinations from Shanghai Pudong International Airport. Some international routes operate from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, Dalian Zhoushuizi International Airport, Dubai International Airport, Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport, Kunming Wujiaba International Airport, Madrid Barajas Airport, Nanning Wuxu International Airport, and Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport.
On 10 December 2006, Air China started serving its first South American destination, São Paulo (via Madrid). This was the airline's longest direct flight. The service began with the Boeing 767-300 aircraft, but because of its popularity, the service has since been upgraded to A330-200.
Air China recently introduced its new A330-300 aircraft for long haul operations beginning with services to Düsseldorf, Germany for the summer 2011 schedule. These aircraft provide the same two-class cabin standard as the A330-200 except that the economy cabin has no seat-back entertainment system installed (with the exception of the first two economy rows which also have increased legroom). Düsseldorf is now the third German destination on the Air China network. The airline will also launch a new Beijing-Milan service starting 15 June 2011. This service will complement the airline's existing Shanghai Pudong-Milan service. Deliveries of the carrier's 19 new Boeing 777-300ERs will commence in mid-2011, and Air China stated that the aircraft will form the "backbone of its future longhaul operations". The new Boeing 777-300ER will ultimately replace Boeing 747–400 on routes to U.S. destinations such as Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco, but it is expected to first enter service on flights to and from Frankfurt in late 2011, and on flights to and from London in early 2012. It will replace the existing A330 service on both of these routes, and, in doing so, will provide first class cabin services on all London and Frankfurt flights. The carrier relaunched services from Beijing to Athens with a stopover in Munich using an A330-300 starting 15 May 2011.[13] Air China has announced that it will commence a second daily Beijing-Los Angeles service with a Boeing 747-400M, while the existing daily Los Angeles service is to be upgraded to Boeing 747-400. The Boeing 777-300ER will replace both aircraft once sufficient numbers enter the fleet.[14] Air China also announced that it will expand its operations in India with a Beijing-Mumbai route to plan to begin in September 2011.[15]
[edit]Codeshare agreements
Air China officially joined Star Alliance on 12 December 2007, which greatly expanded the alliance's presence in China. With the alliance's "Under One Roof" initiative, all Star Alliance members have moved their operation to the Terminal 3 of the Beijing Capital International Airport, Air China's main international hub. Air China has codeshare agreements with the following airlines.[16]
Air Canada [A]
Air New Zealand [A]
Air Macau
ANA [A]
Asiana Airlines [A]
Austrian Airlines [A]
Avianca
BMI [A][17]
Cathay Pacific [B]
Dragonair [B]
EgyptAir [A]
El Al
Ethiopian Airlines [A][18]
EVA Air[19]
Finnair [B]
LOT Polish Airlines [A]
Lufthansa [A]
SAS [A]
Shandong Airlines
Spanair [A]
Swiss International Air Lines [A]
TAM Airlines [A][20]
TAP Portugal [A]
Turkish Airlines [A]
United Airlines [A]
US Airways [A]
Virgin Atlantic Airways

Agricultural Bank of China

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Agricultural Bank of China Limited (ABC, simplified Chinese: 中国农业银行股份有限公司; traditional Chinese: 中國農業銀行股份有限公司; pinyin: Zhōngguó Nóngyè Yínháng), also known as AgBank, is one of the "Big Four" banks in the People's Republic of China. It was founded in 1951, and has its headquarters in Beijing. It has branches throughout mainland China, Hong Kong, London, Tokyo, New York, Frankfurt, Sydney, Seoul, and Singapore.
ABC has 320 million retail customers, 2.7 million corporate clients, and nearly 24,000 branches. It is China's third largest lender by assets. ABC went public in mid-2010, fetching the world's biggest ever initial public offering (IPO).[1] As of 2011, it ranks 8th among the Top 1000 World Banks,[2] meanwhile Forbes Global 2000 named it the 25th-largest public company in the world.[3][4]
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 2010 initial public offering
3 See also
4 References
[edit]History

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, ABC has been formed and abolished several times. In 1951, two banks of the Republic of China, Farmers Bank of China and Cooperation Bank, merged to form Agricultural Cooperation Bank, which ABC regards as its ancestor. However, the bank was merged into People's Bank of China, the central bank in 1952. The first bank bearing the name Agricultural Bank of China was founded in 1955, but it was merged into the central bank in 1957. In 1963 the Chinese government formed another agricultural bank, and it was also merged into the central bank two years later. Today's Agricultural Bank of China was founded in February 1979. It was restructured to form a holding company called Agricultural Bank of China Limited.[5] It was listed on the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges in July 2010.[6]
In April 2007 ABC was the victim of the largest bank robbery in Chinese history. This occurred when two vault managers at the Handan branch of the bank in Hebei province embezzled almost 51 million yuan (US$7.5 million).[7]
[edit]2010 initial public offering

ABC was the last of the "big four" banks in China to go public. In 2010, A shares and H shares of Agricultural Bank of China were listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange respectively. Each share was set to cost between 2.7RMB and 3.3RMB per share.[8] H shares were set to cost between HK$2.88 and HK$3.48 per share.[9] The final share price for the IPO launch was issued on July 7, 2010. On completion in August 2010 it became the world's biggest initial public offering (IPO) surpassing the one set by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in 2006 of US$21.9 billion.[10]
ABC raised US$19.21 billion in an IPO in Hong Kong and Shanghai on July 6, 2010, before overallotment options were exercised.[11] On August 13, 2010, ABC officially completed the world's largest initial public offering, raising a total of $22.1 billion after both Shanghai and Hong Kong's over-allotments were fully exercised.[12][13] The IPO was once thought to be able to raise US$30 billion, but weaker market sentiment dampened the value.[14]
CICC, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley led the Hong Kong offering, with JPMorgan, Macquarie, Deutsche Bank and ABC's own securities unit also involved. CICC, Citic Securities, Galaxy and Guotai Junan Securities handled the Shanghai portion. ABC sold about 40% of the Shanghai offering to 27 strategic investors including China Life Insurance and China State Construction. They are subject to lock-up periods of 12–18 months. Eleven cornerstone investors were selected for its Hong Kong share offering, including Qatar Investment Authority and Kuwait Investment Authority, taking a combined $5.45 billion worth of shares.[15]

Chinese Stocks

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The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) (simplified Chinese: 上海证券交易所; traditional Chinese: 上海證券交易所; pinyin: Shànghǎi Zhèngquàn Jiāoyìsuǒ), abbreviated as 上证所/上證所 or 上交所, is a stock exchange that is based in the city of Shanghai, China. It is one of the two stock exchanges operating independently in the People's Republic of China, the other is the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Shanghai Stock Exchange is the world's 5th largest stock market by market capitalization at US$2.7 trillion as of Dec 2010.[1] Unlike the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the Shanghai Stock Exchange is still not entirely open to foreign investors [2] due to tight capital account controls exercised by the Chinese mainland authorities.[3]
The current exchange was re-established on November 26, 1990 and was in operation on December 19 of the same year. It is a non-profit organization directly administered by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).
Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 Chronology
2 Structure
3 Market Performance
3.1 Trading Summary for 2007
3.2 Indices
4 SSE's Top 10 Largest Stocks
5 Listing Requirements
6 See also
6.1 Lists
7 References
8 External links
[edit]History

The formation of the International Settlement (foreign concession areas) in Shanghai was the result of the Treaty of Nanking of 1842 (which ended the First Opium War) and subsequent agreements between the Chinese and foreign governments were crucial to the development of foreign trade in China and of the foreign community in Shanghai. The market for securities trading in Shanghai begins in the late 1860s. The first shares list appeared in June 1866 and by then Shanghai's International Settlement had developed the conditions conducive to the emergence of a share market: several banks, a legal framework for joint-stock companies, and an interest in diversification among the established trading houses (although the trading houses themselves remained partnerships).
In 1891 during the boom in mining shares, foreign businessmen founded the "Shanghai Sharebrokers' Association" headquartered in Shanghai as China's first stock exchange. In 1904 the Association applied for registration in Hong Kong under the provision of the Companies ordinance and was renamed as the "Shanghai Stock Exchange". The supply of securities came primarily from local companies. In the early days, banks dominated private shares but, by 1880, only the Hong Kong and Shanghai local banks remained.
Later in 1920 and 1921, "Shanghai Securities & Commodities Exchange" and "Shanghai Chinese Merchant Exchange" started operation respectively. An amalgamation eventually took place in 1929, and the combined markets operated thereafter as the "Shanghai Stock Exchange". Shipping, insurance, and docks persisted to 1940 but were overshadowed by industrial shares after the Treaty of Shimonoseki of 1895, which permitted Japan, and by extension other nations which had treaties with China, to establish factories in Shanghai and other treaty ports. Rubber plantations became the staple of stock trading beginning in the second decade of the 20th century.
By the 1930s, Shanghai had emerged as the financial center of the Far East, where both Chinese and foreign investors could trade stocks, debentures, government bonds, and futures. The operation of Shanghai Stock Exchange came to an abrupt halt after Japanese troops occupied the Shanghai International Settlement on December 8, 1941. In 1946, Shanghai Stock Exchange resumed its operations before closing again 3 years later in 1949, after the Communist revolution took place.
After the Cultural Revolution ended and Deng Xiaoping rose to power, China was re-opened to the outside world in 1978. During the 1980s, China's securities market evolved in tandem with the country's economic reform and opening up and the development of socialist market economy. On 26 November 1990, Shanghai Stock Exchange was re-established and operations began a few weeks later on 19 December.[4]
[edit]Chronology


The Shanghai (SSE) Composite Index: 1991 to start of 2009.
1866 - The first share list appeared in June.
1871 - Speculative bubble burst triggered by monetary panic.
1883 - Credit crisis resulted speculation in Chinese companies.
1890 - Bank crisis started from Hong Kong.
1891 - "Shanghai Sharebrokers Association" established.
1895 - Treaty of Shimonoseki opened Chinese market to foreign investors.
1904 - Renamed to "Shanghai Stock Exchange".
1909-1910 - Rubber boom.
1911 - Revolution and the abdication of the Qing Dynasty. Founding of the Republic of China.
1914 - Market closed for a few months due to the Great War (World War I).
1919 - Speculation in cotton shares.
1925 - Second rubber boom.
1929 - "Shanghai Securities & Commodities Exchange" and "Shanghai Chinese Merchant Exchange" were merged into the existing Shanghai Stock Exchange.
1931 - Incursion of Japanese forces into northern China.
1930s - The market was dominated by the rubber share price movements.
1941 - The market closed on Friday 5 December. Japanese troops occupied Shanghai.
1946-1949 - Temporary resumption of the Shanghai Stock Exchange until the communist revolution. Founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.
1978 - Deng Xiaoping emerged as the dominant figure in China's leadership, thus beginning a period of 'opening up' to the rest of the world.
1981 - Trading in treasury bonds were resumed.
1984 - Company stocks and corporate bonds emerged in Shanghai and a few other cities.
1990 - The present Shanghai Stock Exchange re-opened on November 26 and began operation on December 19.
2001-2005 - A four-year market slump which saw Shanghai's market value halved, after reaching a peak in 2001. A ban on new IPOs was put in April 2005 to curb the slump and allow more than US$200 billion of mostly state-owned equity to be converted to tradable shares.
2006 - The SSE resumed full operation as the yearlong ban on IPOs was lifted in May. The world's second largest (US$21.9 billion) IPO by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) was launched in both Shanghai and Hong Kong stock markets.[5]
2007-2008 - A "stock market frenzy" as speculative traders rush into the market, making China's stock exchange temporarily the world's second largest in terms of turnover.[6][7][8] After reaching an all-time high of 6,124.044 points on October 16, 2007,[9] the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended 2008 down a record 65%[10] mainly due to the impact of the global economic crisis which started in mid-2008.
2010 - Agricultural Bank of China completed the world's largest IPO to date worth US$22.1 billion.[11]
[edit]Structure

See also: Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor
The securities listed at the SSE include the three main categories of stocks, bonds, and funds. Bonds traded on SSE include treasury bonds (T-bond), corporate bonds, and convertible corporate bonds. SSE T-bond market is the most active of its kind in China. There are two types of stocks being issued in the Shanghai Stock Exchange: "A" shares and "B" shares. A shares are priced in the local renminbi yuan currency, while B shares are quoted in U.S. dollars. Initially, trading in A shares are restricted to domestic investors only while B shares are available to both domestic (since 2001) and foreign investors. However, after reforms were implemented in December 2002, foreign investors are now allowed (with limitations) to trade in A shares under the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) program which was officially launched in 2003. Currently, a total of 98 foreign institutional investors have been approved to buy and sell A shares under the QFII program. Quotas under the QFII program are currently US$30 billion.[12] There has been a plan to eventually merge the two types of shares in the future.[13]
The SSE is open for trading every Monday to Friday. The morning session begins with centralized competitive pricing from 09:15 to 09:25, and continues with consecutive bidding from 09:30 to 11:30. This is followed by the afternoon consecutive bidding session, which starts from 13:00 to 15:00. The market is closed on Saturday and Sunday and other holidays announced by the SSE.[14]
Holiday Schedule
Shanghai Stock Exchange 2010
Holiday From To No. of days (excluding Saturday and Sunday)
New Year 1 January 2010 (Friday) 1 January 2010 (Friday) 1
DAY
Chinese New Year 15 February 2010 (Monday) 19 February 2010 (Friday) 5 DAYS
Qingming Festival 5 April 2010 (Monday) 5 April 2010 (Monday) 1 DAY
Labor Day 3 May 2010 (Monday) 3 May 2010 (Monday) 1 DAY
Duanwu Festival 14 June 2010 (Monday) 16 June 2010 (Wednesday) 3 DAYS
Mid-Autumn Festival 22 September 2010 (Wednesday) 24 September 2010 (Friday) 3 DAYS
National Day 1 October 2010 (Friday) 7 October 2010 (Thursday) 5 DAYS
Note: The above dates are inclusive and all Saturdays and Sundays are non-trading days.
[edit]Market Performance

As of February 2008, 861 companies were listed on the SSE and the total market capitalization of SSE reached RMB 23,340.9 billion (US$3,241.8 billion; US$1 = RMB 6.82).
[edit]Trading Summary for 2007
Data updated on 18 February 2008
Stock listings Market value
(billion yuan) Annual turnover value
(billion yuan)
A shares 850 26,849.7 30,196.0
B shares 54 134.2 347.4
Total 904 26,983.9 30,543.4
[edit]Indices
Main article: SSE Composite
The SSE Composite (also known as Shanghai Composite) Index is the most commonly used indicator to reflect SSE's market performance. Constituents for the SSE Composite Index are all listed stocks (A shares and B shares) at the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The Base Day for the SSE Composite Index is December 19, 1990. The Base Period is the total market capitalization of all stocks of that day. The Base Value is 100. The index was launched on July 15, 1991. At the end of 2006, the index reaches 2,675.47. Other important indexes used in the Shanghai Stock Exchanges include the SSE 50 Index and SSE 180 Index.
[edit]SSE's Top 10 Largest Stocks

Source: Shanghai Stock Exchange (market values in RMB/Chinese Yuan). Data arranged by market value. Updated on 19 March 2008
PetroChina (3,656.20 billion)
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (1,417.93 billion)
Sinopec (961.42 billion)
Bank of China (894.42 billion)
China Shenhua Energy Company (824.22 billion)
China Life (667.39 billion)
China Merchants Bank (352.74 billion)
Ping An Insurance (272.53 billion)
Bank of Communications (269.41 billion)
China Pacific Insurance (256.64 billion)
[edit]Listing Requirements

According to the regulations of Securities Law of the People’s Republic of China and Company Law of the People’s Republic of China, limited companies applying for the listing of shares must meet the following criteria:
The shares must have been publicly issued following approval of the State Council Securities Management Department.
The company’s total share capital must not be less than RMB 30 million.
The company must have been in business for more than 3 years and have made profits over the last three consecutive years. This requirement also applies to former state-owned enterprises reincorporating as private or public enterprises. In the case of former state-owned enterprises re-established according to the law or founded after implementation of the law and if their issuers are large and medium state owned enterprises, it can be calculated consecutively. The number of shareholders with holdings of values reaching in excess of RMB 1,000 must not be less than 1,000 persons. Publicly offered shares must be more than 25% of the company’s total share capital. For company whose total share capital exceeds RMB 400 million, the ratio of publicly offered shares must be more than 15%.
The company must not have committed any major illegal activities or false accounting records in the last three years.
Other conditions stipulated by the State Council.
China currently has a preference for domestic firms only to list onto their stock exchanges; India has similar rules. However, China is considering opening up their capital markets to foreign firms in 2010.
The conditions for applications for the listing of shares by limited companies involved in high and new technology are set out separately by the State Council.
[edit]See also

China Securities Regulatory Commission
Economy of the People's Republic of China
Hong Kong Stock Exchange
Shenzhen Stock Exchange
Shanghai Metal Exchange
SSE Composite
Untraded shares

Foreign exchange reserves

Image via Wikipedia
Foreign exchange reserves (also called Forex reserves or FX reserves) in a strict sense are only the foreign currency deposits and bonds held by central banks and monetary authorities. However, the term in popular usage commonly includes foreign exchange and gold, Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) reserve positions. This broader figure is more readily available, but it is more accurately termed official international reserves or international reserves. These are assets of the central bank held in different reserve currencies, mostly the US dollar, and to a lesser extent the euro, the UK pound, and the Japanese yen, and used to back its liabilities, e.g., the local currency issued, and the various bank reserves deposited with the central bank, by the government or financial institutions.
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Purpose
2.1 Changes in reserves
3 Costs, benefits, and criticisms
4 Excess reserves
5 List of countries by foreign exchange reserves
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
8.1 Source
8.2 Articles
8.3 Speeches
[edit]History

Official international reserves, the means of official international payments, formerly consisted only of gold, and occasionally silver. But under the Bretton Woods system, the US dollar functioned as a reserve currency, so it too became part of a nation's official international reserve assets. From 1944-1968, the US dollar was convertible into gold through the Federal Reserve System, but after 1968 only central banks could convert dollars into gold from official gold reserves, and after 1973 no individual or institution could convert US dollars into gold from official gold reserves. Since 1973, no major currencies have been convertible into gold from official gold reserves. Individuals and institutions must now buy gold in private markets, just like other commodities. Even though US dollars and other currencies are no longer convertible into gold from official gold reserves, they still can function as official international reserves.
[edit]Purpose

In a flexible exchange rate system, official international reserve assets allow a central bank to purchase the domestic currency, which is considered a liability for the central bank (since it prints the money or fiat currency as IOUs). This action can stabilize the value of the domestic currency.[citation needed]
Central banks throughout the world have sometimes cooperated in buying and selling official international reserves to attempt to influence exchange rates. This coordinated strategy was used to replace pound sterling with US dollar as the world reference currency during the 20th century.[1] The lack of such international cooperation is also a big concern for the replacement of US Dollar in this role of reference currency in foreign exchange reserves.[2]
[edit]Changes in reserves
The quantity of foreign exchange reserves can change as a central bank implements monetary policy.[3] A central bank that implements a fixed exchange rate policy may face a situation where supply and demand would tend to push the value of the currency lower or higher (an increase in demand for the currency would tend to push its value higher, and a decrease lower). In a flexible exchange rate regime, these operations occur automatically, with the central bank clearing any excess demand or supply by purchasing or selling the foreign currency. Mixed exchange rate regimes ('dirty floats', target bands or similar variations) may require the use of foreign exchange operations (sterilized or unsterilized[clarification needed]) to maintain the targeted exchange rate within the prescribed limits .
Foreign exchange operations that are unsterilized will cause an expansion or contraction in the amount of domestic currency in circulation, and hence directly affect monetary policy and inflation: An exchange rate target cannot be independent of an inflation target. Countries that do not target a specific exchange rate are said to have a floating exchange rate, and allow the market to set the exchange rate; for countries with floating exchange rates, other instruments of monetary policy are generally preferred and they may limit the type and amount of foreign exchange interventions. Even those central banks that strictly limit foreign exchange interventions, however, often recognize that currency markets can be volatile and may intervene to counter disruptive short-term movements.
To maintain the same exchange rate if there is increased demand, the central bank can issue more of the domestic currency and purchase the foreign currency, which will increase the sum of foreign reserves. In this case, the currency's value is being held down; since (if there is no sterilization) the domestic money supply is increasing (money is being 'printed'), this may provoke domestic inflation (the value of the domestic currency falls relative to the value of goods and services).
Since the amount of foreign reserves available to defend a weak currency (a currency in low demand) is limited, a foreign exchange crisis or devaluation could be the end result. For a currency in very high and rising demand, foreign exchange reserves can theoretically be continuously accumulated, although eventually the increased domestic money supply will result in inflation and reduce the demand for the domestic currency (as its value relative to goods and services falls). In practice, some central banks, through open market operations aimed at preventing their currency from appreciating, can at the same time build substantial reserves.
In practice, few central banks or currency regimes operate on such a simplistic level, and numerous other factors (domestic demand, production and productivity, imports and exports, relative prices of goods and services, etc) will affect the eventual outcome. As certain impacts (such as inflation) can take many months or even years to become evident, changes in foreign reserves and currency values in the short term may be quite large as different markets react to imperfect data.
[edit]Costs, benefits, and criticisms

Large reserves of foreign currency allow a government to manipulate exchange rates - usually to stabilize the foreign exchange rates to provide a more favorable economic environment. In theory the manipulation of foreign currency exchange rates can provide the stability that a gold standard provides, but in practice this has not been the case. Also, the greater a country's foreign reserves, the better position it is in to defend itself from speculative attacks on the domestic currency.
There are costs in maintaining large currency reserves. Fluctuations in exchange markets result in gains and losses in the purchasing power of reserves. Even in the absence of a currency crisis, fluctuations can result in huge losses. For example, China holds huge U.S. dollar-denominated assets, but if the U.S. dollar weakens on the exchange markets, the decline results in a relative loss of wealth for China. In addition to fluctuations in exchange rates, the purchasing power of fiat money decreases constantly due to devaluation through inflation. Therefore, a central bank must continually increase the amount of its reserves to maintain the same power to manipulate exchange rates. Reserves of foreign currency provide a small return in interest. However, this may be less than the reduction in purchasing power of that currency over the same period of time due to inflation, effectively resulting in a negative return known as the "quasi-fiscal cost". In addition, large currency reserves could have been invested in higher yielding assets.
[edit]Excess reserves

Foreign exchange reserves are important indicators of ability to repay foreign debt and for currency defense, and are used to determine credit ratings of nations, however, other government funds that are counted as liquid assets that can be applied to liabilities in times of crisis include stabilization funds, otherwise known as sovereign wealth funds. If those were included, Norway, Singapore and Persian Gulf States would rank higher on these lists, and United Arab Emirates' $1.3 trillion Abu Dhabi Investment Authority would be second after China. Apart from high foreign exchange reserves, Singapore also has significant government and sovereign wealth funds including Temasek Holdings, valued in excess of $145 billion and Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, valued in excess of $330 billion. India is also planning to create its own investment firm from its foreign exchange reserves.
On May 2011, an estimated that Asia has $3.5 trillion of foreign reserves or is around two-thirds of the world's reserves and a stark contrast to the indebtedness in many developed Western economies.[4]
[edit]List of countries by foreign exchange reserves

See also: List of countries by foreign exchange reserves


Reserves of SDR, forex and gold in 2006
The following is a list of the top 20 largest countries by foreign exchange reserves:
The following is a list of inter-governmental free-trade associations and supranational organizations.
Rank Country Billion USD (end of month)
1 People's Republic of China $ 3,197 (Jun 2011)[5]
2 Japan $ 1,138 (Jun 2011)[6]
3 Russia $ 531 (Jul 2011)[7]
4 Saudi Arabia $ 497 (Jun 2011)[8]
5 Republic of China (Taiwan) $ 400 (Jun 2011)[9]
6 Brazil $ 352 (Aug 2011)[10]
7 India $ 318 (Aug 27 2011)[11]
8 South Korea $ 311 (Jul 2011)[12]
9 Switzerland $ 289 (May 2011)[13]
10 Hong Kong $ 277 (Jun 2011)[14]
11 Singapore $ 249 (Jul 2011)[15]
12 Germany $ 231 (Jun 2011)[13]
13 Thailand $ 186 (Jul 2011)[16]
14 France $ 182 (May 2011)[13]
15 Italy $ 170 (May 2011)[13]
16 Algeria $ 155 (Dec 2010)[17]
17 United States $ 143 (Jul 2011)[13]
18 Mexico $ 136 (Aug 2011)[18]
19 Malaysia $ 134 (Jun 2011)[19]
20 Indonesia $ 122 (Jul 2011)[20]
Rank Country Billion USD (end of month)
- European Economic Area $ 1 416 (Feb 2011)
- European Union $ 1 356 (Feb 2011)
- Eurozone $ 840 (Jun 2011)[21]
These few holders account for more than 60% of total world foreign currency reserves. The adequacy of the foreign exchange reserves is more often expressed not as an absolute level, but as a percentage of short-term foreign debt, money supply, or average monthly imports.
[e

Balance of trade

The balance of trade (or net exports, sometimes symbolized as NX) is the difference between the monetary value of exports and imports of output in an economy over a certain period. It is the relationship between a nation's imports and exports.[1][dead link] A positive balance is known as a trade surplus if it consists of exporting more than is imported; a negative balance is referred to as a trade deficit or, informally, a trade gap. The balance of trade is sometimes divided into a goods and a services balance.
Early understanding of the functioning of balance of trade informed the economic policies of Early Modern Europe that are grouped under the heading mercantilism. An early statement appeared in Discourse of the Common Weal of this Realm of England, 1549: "We must always take heed that we buy no more from strangers than we sell them, for so should we impoverish ourselves and enrich them."[2] Similarly a systematic and coherent explanation of balance of trade was made public through Thomas Mun's c1630 "England's treasure by forraign trade, or, The balance of our forraign trade is the rule of our treasure"[3]
Contents [hide]
1 Definition
2 Views on economic impact
2.1 Conditions where trade imbalances may be problematic
2.2 Conditions where trade imbalances may not be problematic
2.3 Adam Smith on trade deficits
2.4 Frédéric Bastiat on the fallacy of trade deficits
2.5 John Maynard Keynes on the balance of trade
2.6 Milton Friedman on trade deficits
2.7 Warren Buffett on trade deficits
3 Physical balance of trade
4 United States Trade Deficit
5 See also
6 Notes
7 External links
[edit]Definition



The balance of trade encompasses the activity of exports and imports, like the work of this cargo ship going through the Panama Canal.
The balance of trade forms part of the current account, which includes other transactions such as income from the international investment position as well as international aid. If the current account is in surplus, the country's net international asset position increases correspondingly. Equally, a deficit decreases the net international asset position.
The trade balance is identical to the difference between a country's output and its domestic demand (the difference between what goods a country produces and how many goods it buys from abroad; this does not include money re-spent on foreign stock, nor does it factor in the concept of importing goods to produce for the domestic market).
Measuring the balance of trade can be problematic because of problems with recording and collecting data. As an illustration of this problem, when official data for all the world's countries are added up, exports exceed imports by almost 1%; it appears the world is running a positive balance of trade with itself. This cannot be true, because all transactions involve an equal credit or debit in the account of each nation. The discrepancy is widely believed to be explained by transactions intended to launder money or evade taxes, smuggling and other visibility problems. However, especially for developed countries, accuracy is likely.
Factors that can affect the balance of trade include:
The cost of production (land, labor, capital, taxes, incentives, etc.) in the exporting economy vis-à-vis those in the importing economy;
The cost and availability of raw materials, intermediate goods and other inputs;
Exchange rate movements;
Multilateral, bilateral and unilateral taxes or restrictions on trade;
Non-tariff barriers such as environmental, health or safety standards;
The availability of adequate foreign exchange with which to pay for imports; and
Prices of goods manufactured at home (influenced by the responsiveness of supply)
In addition, the trade balance is likely to differ across the business cycle. In export-led growth (such as oil and early industrial goods), the balance of trade will improve during an economic expansion. However, with domestic demand led growth (as in the United States and Australia) the trade balance will worsen at the same stage in the business cycle.
Since the mid 1980s, the United States has had a growing deficit in tradeable goods, especially with Asian nations (China and Japan) which now hold large sums of U.S debt that has funded the consumption.[4][5] The U.S. has a trade surplus with nations such as Australia. The issue of trade deficits can be complex. Trade deficits generated in tradeable goods such as manufactured goods or software may impact domestic employment to different degrees than trade deficits in raw materials.
Economies such as Canada, Japan, and Germany which have savings surpluses, typically run trade surpluses. China, a high growth economy, has tended to run trade surpluses. A higher savings rate generally corresponds to a trade surplus. Correspondingly, the U.S. with its lower savings rate has tended to run high trade deficits, especially with Asian nations.
[edit]Views on economic impact

[edit]Conditions where trade imbalances may be problematic
Those who ignore the effects of long run trade deficits may be confusing David Ricardo's principle of comparative advantage with Adam Smith's principle of absolute advantage, specifically ignoring the latter. The economist Paul Craig Roberts notes that the comparative advantage principles developed by David Ricardo do not hold where the factors of production are internationally mobile.[6][7] Global labor arbitrage, a phenomenon described by economist Stephen S. Roach, where one country exploits the cheap labor of another, would be a case of absolute advantage that is not mutually beneficial.[8][9][10] Since the stagflation of the 1970s, the U.S. economy has been characterized by slower GDP growth. In 1985, the U.S. began its growing trade deficit with China. Over the long run, nations with trade surpluses tend also to have a savings surplus. The U.S. generally has lower savings rates than its trading partners, which tend to have trade surpluses. Germany, France, Japan, and Canada have maintained higher savings rates than the U.S. over the long run.[11]
Few economists believe that GDP and employment can be dragged down by an over-large deficit over the long run.[12][13] Others believe that trade deficits are good for the economy.[14] The opportunity cost of a forgone tax base may outweigh perceived gains, especially where artificial currency pegs and manipulations are present to distort trade.[15]
Wealth-producing primary sector jobs in the U.S. such as those in manufacturing and computer software have often been replaced by much lower paying wealth-consuming jobs such those in retail and government in the service sector when the economy recovered from recessions.[7][16][17] Some economists contend that the U.S. is borrowing to fund consumption of imports while accumulating unsustainable amounts of debt.[4][18]
In 2006, the primary economic concerns focused on: high national debt ($9 trillion), high non-bank corporate debt ($9 trillion), high mortgage debt ($9 trillion), high financial institution debt ($12 trillion), high unfunded Medicare liability ($30 trillion), high unfunded Social Security liability ($12 trillion), high external debt (amount owed to foreign lenders) and a serious deterioration in the United States net international investment position (NIIP) (-24% of GDP),[4] high trade deficits, and a rise in illegal immigration.[18][19]
These issues have raised concerns among economists and unfunded liabilities were mentioned as a serious problem facing the United States in the President's 2006 State of the Union address.[19][20] On June 26, 2009, Jeff Immelt, the CEO of General Electric, called for the U.S. to increase its manufacturing base employment to 20% of the workforce, commenting that the U.S. has outsourced too much in some areas and can no longer rely on the financial sector and consumer spending to drive demand.[21]
See also: Friedrich List
[edit]Conditions where trade imbalances may not be problematic
Small trade deficits are generally not considered to be harmful to either the importing or exporting economy. However, when a national trade imbalance expands beyond prudence (generally thought to be several[clarification needed] percent of GDP, for several years), adjustments tend to occur. While unsustainable imbalances [22] may persist for long periods (cf, Singapore and New Zealand’s surpluses and deficits, respectively), the distortions likely to be caused by large flows of wealth out of one economy and into another tend to become intolerable.[citation needed]
In simple terms, trade deficits are paid for out of foreign exchange reserves, and may continue until such reserves are depleted. At such a point, the importer can no longer continue to purchase more than is sold abroad. This is likely to have exchange rate implications: a sharp loss of value in the deficit economy’s exchange rate with the surplus economy’s currency will change the relative price of tradable goods, and facilitate a return to balance or (more likely) an over-shooting into surplus the other direction.
More complexly, an economy may be unable to export enough goods to pay for its imports, but is able to find funds elsewhere. Service exports, for example, are more than sufficient to pay for Hong Kong’s domestic goods export shortfall. In poorer countries, foreign aid may fill the gap while in rapidly developing economies a capital account surplus often off-sets a current-account deficit. Finally, there are some economies where transfers from nationals working abroad contribute significantly to paying for imports. The Philippines, Bangladesh and Mexico are examples of transfer-rich economies.
[edit]Adam Smith on trade deficits
"In the foregoing part of this chapter I have endeavoured to show, even upon the principles of the commercial system, how unnecessary it is to lay extraordinary restraints upon the importation of goods from those countries with which the balance of trade is supposed to be disadvantageous. Nothing, however, can be more absurd than this whole doctrine of the balance of trade, upon which, not only these restraints, but almost all the other regulations of commerce are founded. When two places trade with one another, this [absurd] doctrine supposes that, if the balance be even, neither of them either loses or gains; but if it leans in any degree to one side, that one of them loses and the other gains in proportion to its declension from the exact equilibrium." (Smith, 1776, book IV, ch. iii, part ii) [23]
[edit]Frédéric Bastiat on the fallacy of trade deficits
The 19th century economist and philosopher Frédéric Bastiat expressed the idea that trade deficits actually were a manifestation of profit, rather than a loss. He proposed as an example to suppose that he, a Frenchman, exported French wine and imported British coal, turning a profit. He supposed he was in France, and sent a cask of wine which was worth 50 francs to England. The customhouse would record an export of 50 francs. If, in England, the wine sold for 70 francs (or the pound equivalent), which he then used to buy coal, which he imported into France, and was found to be worth 90 francs in France, he would have made a profit of 40 francs. But the customhouse would say that the value of imports exceeded that of exports and was trade deficit against the ledger of France.[24]
Note that Bastiat only comes to this conclusion thanks to the customhouse's accounting error. The customhouse is valuing imports and exports based on the good's value in their home country, not the price paid when the actual international trade occurs as is conventionally done when calculating the trade balance. Correcting for the accounting error a neutral conclusion is reached: France sells wine for 70 and buys coal for 70, and Bastiat's profit does not come from England but simply from trading goods within France.
By reductio ad absurdum, Bastiat argued that the national trade deficit was an indicator of a successful economy, rather than a failing one. Bastiat predicted that a successful, growing economy would result in greater trade deficits, and an unsuccessful, shrinking economy would result in lower trade deficits. This was later, in the 20th century, affirmed by economist Milton Friedman.
[edit]John Maynard Keynes on the balance of trade
In the last few years of his life, John Maynard Keynes was much preoccupied with the question of balance in international trade. He was the leader of the British delegation to the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference in 1944 that established the Bretton Woods system of international currency management.
He was the principal author of a proposal — the so-called Keynes Plan —— for an International Clearing Union. The two governing principles of the plan were that the problem of settling outstanding balances should be solved by 'creating' additional 'international money', and that debtor and creditor should be treated almost alike as disturbers of equilibrium. In the event, though, the plans were rejected, in part because "American opinion was naturally reluctant to accept the principle of equality of treatment so novel in debtor-creditor relationships".[25]
His view, supported by many economists and commentators at the time, was that creditor nations may be just as responsible as debtor nations for disequilibrium in exchanges and that both should be under an obligation to bring trade back into a state of balance. Failure for them to do so could have serious consequences. In the words of Geoffrey Crowther, then editor of The Economist, "If the economic relationships between nations are not, by one means or another, brought fairly close to balance, then there is no set of financial arrangements that can rescue the world from the impoverishing results of chaos."[26]
These ideas were informed by events prior to the Great Depression when — in the opinion of Keynes and others — international lending, primarily by the U.S., exceeded the capacity of sound investment and so got diverted into non-productive and speculative uses, which in turn invited default and a sudden stop to the process of lending.[27]
Influenced by Keynes, economics texts in the immediate post-war period put a significant emphasis on balance in trade. For example, the second edition of the popular introductory textbook, An Outline of Money,[28] devoted the last three of its ten chapters to questions of foreign exchange management and in particular the 'problem of balance'. However, in more recent years, since the end of the Bretton Woods system in 1971, with the increasing influence of Monetarist schools of thought in the 1980s, and particularly in the face of large sustained trade imbalances, these concerns — and particularly concerns about the destabilising effects of large trade surpluses — have largely disappeared from mainstream economics discourse[29] and Keynes' insights have slipped from view.[30] They are receiving some attention again in the wake of the Financial crisis of 2007–2010.[31]
[edit]Milton Friedman on trade deficits
In the 1980s, Milton Friedman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist and father of Monetarism, contended that some of the concerns of trade deficits are unfair criticisms in an attempt to push macroeconomic policies favorable to exporting industries.
Prof. Friedman argued that trade deficits are not necessarily important as high exports raise the value of the currency, reducing aforementioned exports, and vice versa for imports, thus naturally removing trade deficits not due to investment. Since 1971, when the Nixon administration decided to abolish fixed exchange rates, America's Current Account accumulated trade deficits have totaled $7.75 Trillion as of 2010. This deficit exists as it is matched by investment coming in to the United States- purely by the definition of the balance of payments, any current account deficit that exists is matched by an inflow of foreign investment.
Milton Friedman's son, David D. Friedman, shares his father's view and cites the comparative advantage concepts of David Ricardo.[32]
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the U.S. had experienced high inflation and Friedman's policy positions tended to defend the stronger dollar at that time. He stated his belief that these trade deficits were not necessarily harmful to the economy at the time since the currency comes back to the country (country A sells to country B, country B sells to country C who buys from country A, but the trade deficit only includes A and B). However, it may be in one form or another including the possible tradeoff of foreign control of assets. In his view, the "worst case scenario" of the currency never returning to the country of origin was actually the best possible outcome: the country actually purchased its goods by exchanging them for pieces of cheaply-made paper. As Friedman put it, this would be the same result as if the exporting country burned the dollars it earned, never returning it to market circulation.[33] This position is a more refined version of the theorem first discovered by David Hume.[34] Hume argued that England could not permanently gain from exports, because hoarding gold (i.e., currency) would make gold more plentiful in England; therefore, the prices of English goods would rise, making them less attractive exports and making foreign goods more attractive imports. In this way, countries' trade balances would balance out.[35]
Friedman believed that deficits would be corrected by free markets as floating currency rates rise or fall with time to encourage or discourage imports in favor of the exports, reversing again in favor of imports as the currency gains strength. In the real world, a potential difficulty is that currency markets are far from a free market, with government and central banks being major players, and this is unlikely to change within the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, recent developments have shown that the global economy is undergoing a fundamental shift. For many years, the U.S. has borrowed and bought while in general, the rest of the world has lent and sold. However, as Friedman predicted, this paradigm appears to be changing.
As of October 2007, the U.S. dollar weakened against the euro, British pound, and many other currencies. For instance, the euro hit $1.42 in October 2007,[36] the strongest it has been since its birth in 1999. Against this backdrop, American exporters are finding quite favorable overseas markets for their products and U.S. consumers are responding to their general housing slowdown by slowing their spending. Furthermore, China, the Middle East, central Europe and Africa are absorbing more of the world's imports which in the end may result in a world economy that is more evenly balanced. All of this could well add up to a major readjustment of the U.S. trade deficit, which as a percentage of GDP, began in 1991.[37]
Friedman contended that the structure of the balance of payments was misleading. In an interview with Charlie Rose, he stated that "on the books" the US is a net borrower of funds, using those funds to pay for goods and services. He essentially claimed that the foreign assets were not carried on the books at their higher, truer value.[citation needed]
Friedman presented his analysis of the balance of trade in Free to Choose, widely considered his most significant popular work.
[edit]Warren Buffett on trade deficits
The successful American businessman and investor Warren Buffett was quoted in the Associated Press (January 20, 2006) as saying "The U.S trade deficit is a bigger threat to the domestic economy than either the federal budget deficit or consumer debt and could lead to political turmoil... Right now, the rest of the world owns $3 trillion more of us than we own of them." Buffett has proposed a tool called Import Certificates as a solution to the United States' problem and ensure balanced trade.[38]
[edit]Physical balance of trade

Monetary balance of trade is different from physical balance of trade[39] (which is expressed in amount of raw materials, known also as Total Material Consumption). Developed countries usually import a lot of primary raw materials from developing countries at low prices. Often, these materials are then converted into finished products, and a significant amount of value is added. Although for instance the EU (as well as many other developed countries) has a balanced monetary balance of trade, its physical trade balance (especially with developing countries) is negative, meaning that a lot less material is exported than imported. For this reason, activists talk about the issue of ecological debt which implies a sort of predatory economic system. The nature of the trade balance statistics is such that it conceals distorted material flow.
[edit]United States Trade Deficit



United States balance of trade (1980–2010), with negative numbers denoting a trade deficit
The U.S. has held a trade deficit starting late in the 1960s. Its trade deficit has been increasing at a large rate since 1997 [40] (See chart) and increased by 49.8 billion dollars between 2005 and 2006, setting a record high of 817.3 billion dollars, up from 767.5 billion dollars the previous year.[41]
The graph indicates that, as Frédéric Bastiat predicted, the deficit slackened during recessions and grew during periods of expansion. Also of note, many economists calculate trade deficits and/or current account deficits as a percentage of GDP. The US last had a trade surplus in 1975.[42] Every year there has been a major reduction in economic growth, it is followed by a reduction in the US trade deficit.[37]
[edit]See also

Global 500

1 2 Petrochina China Oil & gas producers 1.2 353,140.1
2 1 Exxon Mobil US Oil & gas producers 68.2 323,717.1
3 4 Microsoft US Software & computer services 30.5 270,635.4
4 3 Indl & Coml Bank of China China Banks 0.8 268,956.2
5 7 Wal-Mart Stores US General retailers 53.5 203,653.6
6 9 China Construction Bank China Banks 0.9 201,436.1
7 13 BHP Billiton Australia/UK Mining 38.8 201,248.0
8 5 HSBC UK Banks 11.5 199,254.9
9 8 Petrobras Brazil Oil & gas producers 23.9 199,107.9
10 16 Apple US Technology hardware & equipment 210.7 189,801.7
11 6 China Mobile Hong Kong Mobile telecommunications 9.4 188,472.8
12 10 Royal Dutch Shell UK Oil & gas producers 30.4 186,618.0
13 17 BP UK Oil & gas producers 9.7 181,805.8
14 15 Johnson & Johnson US Pharmaceuticals & biotechnology 64.4 177,713.5
15 21 Nestle Switzerland Food producers 48.6 177,253.1
16 14 Procter & Gamble US Household goods & home construction 60.6 177,144.6
17 19 IBM US Software & computer services 130.9 171,950.6
18 12 JP Morgan Chase US Banks 41.7 171,052.4
19 18 AT&T US Fixed line telecommunications 28.0 165,404.9
20 11 General Electric US General industrials 15.1 161,096.5
21 33 Sinopec China Oil & gas producers 0.9 159,262.6
22 24 Chevron US Oil & gas producers 77.0 154,462.4
23 23 Bank of China China Banks 0.5 153,957.1
24 20 Berkshire Hathaway US Nonlife insurance 99,200.0 153,624.2
25 27 Total France Oil & gas producers 64.6 151,544.4
26 36 Google US Software & computer services 620.0 150,654.7
27 26 Roche Holding Switzerland Pharmaceuticals & biotechnology 170.1 147,497.0
28 41 Pfizer US Pharmaceuticals & biotechnology 18.2 146,784.7
Page 1Global 500 December 2009
Global rank
December
2009
Global Rank
September
2009 Company Country Sector Price ($)
Market
value ($m)
29 30 Novartis Switzerland Pharmaceuticals & biotechnology 54.7 144,164.5
30 28 Toyota Motor Japan Automobiles & parts 41.7 143,704.8
31 37 Vale Brazil Industrial metals & mining 28.4 143,523.5
32 25 Gazprom Russia Oil & gas producers 6.0 142,985.1
33 31 Wells Fargo & Co US Banks 27.0 137,995.1
34 29 Cisco Systems US Technology hardware & equipment 23.9 137,716.8
35 32 Banco Santander Spain Banks 16.6 136,631.1
36 39 China Life Insurance China Life insurance 4.9 133,462.1
37 35 Coca Cola US Beverages 57.0 132,079.3
38 22 Bank of America US Banks 15.1 130,280.3
39 34 Telefonica Spain Fixed line telecommunications 28.0 127,817.3
40 50 Rio Tinto Australia/UK Mining 54.7 124,297.1
41 46 Oracle US Software & computer services 24.5 122,925.2
42 38 Vodafone Group UK Mobile telecommunications 2.3 122,078.3
43 40 Hewlett-Packard US Technology hardware & equipment 51.5 121,778.3
44 44 Intel US Technology hardware & equipment 20.4 112,648.7
45 133 Merck US Pharmaceuticals & biotechnology 36.5 111,610.4
46 42 Samsung Electronics South Korea Technology hardware & equipment 686.2 111,363.2
47 47 GlaxoSmithKline UK Pharmaceuticals & biotechnology 21.3 110,575.1
48 45 EDF France Electricity 59.6 110,241.6
49 51 Sanofi-Aventis France Pharmaceuticals & biotechnology 79.0 103,993.6
50 49 ENI Italy Oil & gas producers 25.5 102,288.3
51 56 China Shenhua Energy China Mining 4.9 100,764.8
52 48 GDF Suez France Gas, water & multiutilities 43.5 98,209.1
53 52 BNP Paribas France Banks 80.2 94,969.7
54 55 PepsiCo US Beverages 60.8 94,875.0
55 43 Citigroup US Banks 3.3 94,155.2
56 57 Verizon Communications US Fixed line telecommunications 33.1 94,110.6
57 53 Philip Morris International US Tobacco 48.2 91,786.7
58 62 Unilever Netherlands/UK Food producers 32.6 91,449.6
59 61 Itau Unibanco Brazil Banks 22.2 90,038.9
60 63 Rosneft Russia Oil & gas producers 8.3 88,121.4
Page 2Global 500 December 2009
Global rank
December
2009
Global Rank
September
2009 Company Country Sector Price ($)
Market
value ($m)
61 54 Goldman Sachs US Financial services 168.8 86,797.6
62 60 Siemens Germany General industrials 92.1 84,219.0
63 59 E On Germany Gas, water & multiutilities 41.9 83,915.2
64 68 Anheuser-Busch Inbev Belgium Beverages 52.2 83,721.3
65 64 Abbott Laboratories US Pharmaceuticals & biotechnology 54.0 83,508.4
66 70 Statoil Norway Oil & gas producers 25.1 79,925.9
67 69 Schlumberger US Oil equipment & services 65.1 78,157.8
68 66 Qualcomm US Technology hardware & equipment 46.3 77,268.6
69 58 Reliance Industries India Oil & gas producers 23.4 76,939.9
70 65 Royal Bank Canada Canada Banks 53.8 76,429.3
71 75 ConocoPhillips US Oil & gas producers 51.1 75,772.3
72 73 Commonwealth Bank of Australia Australia Banks 49.3 75,682.1
73 98 ArcelorMittal Netherlands Industrial metals & mining 46.2 72,065.9
74 91 CNOOC Hong Kong Oil & gas producers 1.6 70,281.0
75 86 Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Japan Banks 4.9 68,694.1
76 77 BBV Argentaria Spain Banks 18.3 68,452.4
77 82 AstraZeneca UK Pharmaceuticals & biotechnology 47.0 68,150.8
78 74 Westpac Banking Australia Banks 22.8 67,648.2
79 88 McDonald's US Travel & leisure 62.4 67,384.4
80 96 L'Oreal France Personal goods 111.9 66,970.6
81 84 Saudi Basic Industries Saudi Arabia Chemicals 22.0 66,586.6
82 100 Bayer Germany Chemicals 80.3 66,392.7
83 71 France Telecom France Fixed line telecommunications 25.0 66,233.4
84 85 Occidental Petroleum US Oil & gas producers 81.4 66,029.1
85 99 United Technologies US Aerospace & defence 69.4 65,074.6
86 87 British American Tobacco UK Tobacco 32.6 65,009.7
87 95 Deutsche Telekom Germany Mobile telecommunications 14.8 64,387.0
88 92 Bank of Communications China Banks 1.2 62,312.7
89 141 Sberbank of Russia Russia Banks 2.8 61,845.3
90 67 Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Japan Fixed line telecommunications 39.2 61,716.9
91 102 Honda Motor Japan Automobiles & parts 33.4 61,295.6
92 72 NTT DoCoMo Japan Mobile telecommunications 1,392.1 61,183.9
Page 3Global 500 December 2009
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93 97 BG Group UK Oil & gas producers 18.1 61,099.5
94 105 Ping An Insurance China Life insurance 8.8 61,061.7
95 120 Walt Disney US Media 32.3 60,146.6
96 78 Credit Suisse Group Switzerland Banks 49.5 58,682.4
97 118 3M US General industrials 82.7 58,526.9
98 107 Bradesco Brazil Banks 20.9 58,440.6
99 155 Amazon.Com US General retailers 134.5 58,244.8
100 93 SAP Germany Software & computer services 47.3 58,038.2
101 147 Anglo American UK Mining 43.8 57,634.2
102 125 Basf Germany Chemicals 62.4 57,269.6
103 89 Amgen US Pharmaceuticals & biotechnology 56.6 57,256.6
104 103 Allianz Germany Nonlife insurance 125.0 56,753.5
105 106 Intesa Sanpaolo Italy Banks 4.5 56,688.5
106 113 Daimler Germany Automobiles & parts 53.4 56,670.8
107 79 Unicredit Italy Banks 3.4 56,410.9
108 130 Ambev Brazil Beverages 100.1 56,394.3
109 111 Canon Japan Technology hardware & equipment 42.0 56,018.1
110 110 Suncor Energy Canada Oil & gas producers 35.5 55,350.5
111 81 UBS Switzerland Banks 15.5 55,244.4
112 123 LVMH France Personal goods 112.5 55,120.6
113 121 Tesco UK Food & drug retailers 6.9 54,928.4
114 94 Enel Italy Electricity 5.8 54,605.3
115 116 RWE Germany Gas, water & multiutilities 97.5 54,519.0
116 104 Axa France Nonlife insurance 23.7 54,340.0
117 114 Oil & Natural Gas India Oil & gas producers 25.3 54,123.2
118 108 Toronto-Dominion Bank Canada Banks 62.9 54,107.1
119 143 Xstrata UK Mining 18.1 53,203.3
120 Santander Brasil Brazil Banks 13.7 52,803.3
121 115 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Taiwan Technology hardware & equipment 2.0 52,232.7
122 138 Lloyds Banking Group UK Banks 0.8 52,203.7
123 101 National Australia Bank Australia Banks 24.6 52,203.2
124 112 ANZ Banking Australia Banks 20.6 52,119.3
Page 4Global 500 December 2009
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125 135 Teva Pharmaceutical Israel Pharmaceuticals & biotechnology 56.3 52,013.9
126 124 Societe Generale France Banks 70.2 51,956.0
127 122 Standard Chartered UK Banks 25.4 51,451.8
128 80 Barclays UK Banks 4.5 50,861.1
129 148 China Merchants Bank China Banks 2.6 50,482.7
130 119 Iberdrola Spain Electricity 9.6 50,262.3
131 137 Home Depot US General retailers 28.9 49,192.8
132 150 Alcon US Health care equipment & services 164.4 49,082.8
133 152 Medtronic US Health care equipment & services 44.0 48,582.5
134 136 AMX Mexico Mobile telecommunications 2.4 48,501.3
135 154 American Express US Financial services 40.5 48,185.1
136 132 Bank of Nova Scotia Canada Banks 47.0 48,120.2
137 109 Nokia Finland Technology hardware & equipment 12.8 47,926.6
138 134 Lukoil Russia Oil & gas producers 55.9 47,531.7
139 128 Comcast US Media 16.9 47,305.0
140 165 SabMiller UK Beverages 29.5 46,446.8
141 176 Posco South Korea Industrial metals & mining 530.7 46,271.0
142 117 CVS Caremark US Food & drug retailers 32.2 45,433.6
143 131 ABB Switzerland Industrial engineering 19.3 44,814.6
144 144 Monsanto US Food producers 81.8 44,579.2
145 129 Deutsche Bank Germany Banks 70.9 44,021.1
146 161 Diageo UK Beverages 17.5 43,828.0
147 240 Blackrock US Financial services 232.2 43,824.3
148 139 Banco Brasil Brazil Banks 17.0 43,755.9
149 140 Bristol Myers Squibb US Pharmaceuticals & biotechnology 25.3 43,220.3
150 149 US Bancorp US Banks 22.5 43,048.6
151 220 China Citic Bank China Banks 0.9 42,708.4
152 90 Volkswagen Germany Automobiles & parts 110.5 42,506.6
153 156 Generali Italy Nonlife insurance 27.0 42,037.4
154 188 Mitsubishi Japan Support services 24.8 41,998.8
155 173 NTPC India Electricity 5.1 41,763.3
156 153 Nordea Bank Sweden Banks 10.2 41,147.9
Page 5Global 500 December 2009
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157 126 Credit Agricole France Banks 17.7 41,133.2
158 166 Eli Lilly US Pharmaceuticals & biotechnology 35.7 41,031.6
159 163 Colgate-Palmolive US Personal goods 82.2 40,844.2
160 170 Altria Group US Tobacco 19.6 40,677.5
161 151 Hennes & Mauritz Sweden General retailers 55.7 40,648.8
162 187 Hon Hai Precision Industry Taiwan Electronic & electrical equipment 4.7 40,634.9
163 157 United Parcel Service US Industrial transportation 57.4 40,516.2
164 207 Visa US Financial services 87.5 40,242.7
165 146 Morgan Stanley US Financial services 29.6 40,239.2
166 160 Kraft Foods US Food producers 27.2 40,113.2
167 159 Danone France Food producers 61.4 39,756.8
168 231 Tencent Holdings Hong Kong Software & computer services 21.7 39,525.4
169 216 Nissan Motor Japan Automobiles & parts 8.7 39,333.7
170 158 Boeing US Aerospace & defence 54.1 39,330.8
171 174 Canadian Natural Resources Canada Oil & gas producers 72.5 39,314.3
172 184 Reckitt Benckiser UK Household goods & home construction 54.2 39,015.9
173 145 Gilead Sciences US Pharmaceuticals & biotechnology 43.3 38,939.7
174 169 Barrick Gold Canada Mining 39.6 38,881.4
175 179 Inditex Spain General retailers 62.3 38,803.7
176 167 Sun Hung Kai Properties Hong Kong Real estate investment & services 15.0 38,461.3
177 177 Telstra Australia Fixed line telecommunications 3.1 38,383.4
178 171 ING Netherlands Life insurance 9.9 37,921.2
179 162 Research In Motion Canada Technology hardware & equipment 67.8 37,732.6
180 238 Walmex Mexico General retailers 4.5 37,663.4
181 198 News Corp US Media 13.7 37,648.7
182 164 Vivendi France Media 29.8 36,661.6
183 182 Target US General retailers 48.4 36,389.4
184 168 Walgreen US Food & drug retailers 36.7 36,271.5
185 186 EMC US Technology hardware & equipment 17.5 35,635.7
186 206 Caterpillar US Industrial engineering 57.0 35,489.2
187 239 Unitedhealth US Health care equipment & services 30.5 35,418.3
188 190 Baxter International US Health care equipment & services 58.7 35,375.9
Page 6Global 500 December 2009
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189 194 Surgutneftegas Russia Oil & gas producers 0.9 35,316.5
190 172 Singapore Telecom Singapore Fixed line telecommunications 2.2 35,287.9
191 175 Panasonic Japan Leisure goods 14.2 34,913.7
192 212 Apache US Oil & gas producers 103.2 34,683.1
193 247 Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold US Industrial metals & mining 80.3 34,514.9
194 210 Lowe's Companies US General retailers 23.4 34,430.9
195 191 Time Warner US Media 29.1 34,023.2
196 204 Carrefour France Food & drug retailers 48.1 33,940.3
197 180 Tokyo Electric Power Japan Electricity 25.1 33,932.4
198 178 Nintendo Japan Leisure goods 238.4 33,768.0
199 185 Bank of New York Mellon US Financial services 28.0 33,682.7
200 189 Japan Tobacco Japan Tobacco 3,362.2 33,621.5
201 257 Burlington Northern Santa Fe US Industrial transportation 98.6 33,573.7
202 202 Imperial Oil Canada Oil & gas producers 38.8 32,873.5
203 203 Novo Nordisk Denmark Pharmaceuticals & biotechnology 64.0 32,808.8
204 195 Repsol YPF Spain Oil & gas producers 26.9 32,798.5
205 224 Texas Instruments US Technology hardware & equipment 26.1 32,649.9
206 225 Devon Energy US Oil & gas producers 73.5 32,641.4
207 233 TeliaSonera Sweden Mobile telecommunications 7.3 32,608.9
208 258 Wesfarmers Australia General retailers 28.1 32,530.4
209 197 Takeda Pharmaceutical Japan Pharmaceuticals & biotechnology 41.1 32,487.4
210 315 Ford Motor US Automobiles & parts 10.0 32,362.5
211 192 Manulife Financial Canada Life insurance 18.4 32,348.3
212 China Pacific Insurance China Life insurance 4.0 32,341.9
213 183 Zurich Financial Services Switzerland Nonlife insurance 219.1 32,296.3
214 261 Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Canada Chemicals 109.1 32,291.1
215 232 Union Pacific US Industrial transportation 63.9 32,240.7
216 200 Exelon US Electricity 48.9 32,223.8
217 235 Imperial Tobacco UK Tobacco 31.7 32,172.1
218 255 Infosys Technologies India Software & computer services 56.0 32,096.7
219 219 Emerson Electric US Electronic & electrical equipment 42.6 32,047.0
220 259 DirecTV US Media 33.4 31,911.2
Page 7Global 500 December 2009
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221 201 Woodside Petroleum Australia Oil & gas producers 42.4 31,777.0
222 284 Ogx Petroleo Brazil Oil & gas producers 9.8 31,704.5
223 227 Dow Chemical US Chemicals 27.6 31,601.2
224 276 Tata Consultancy Services India Software & computer services 16.1 31,533.8
225 222 Air Liquide France Chemicals 119.1 31,479.1
226 193 China Unicom (Hong Kong) Hong Kong Mobile telecommunications 1.3 31,237.6
227 205 Woolworths Australia Food & drug retailers 25.2 31,224.5
228 262 Itausa Brazil Financial services 6.8 31,165.1
229 242 State Bank of India India Banks 48.8 30,962.2
230 208 Munich Re Germany Nonlife insurance 155.9 30,776.8
231 289 Citic Securities China Financial services 4.7 30,738.8
232 265 Schneider Electric France Electronic & electrical equipment 117.3 30,733.0
233 214 Anadarko Petroleum US Oil & gas producers 62.4 30,680.1
234 266 Medco Health Solutions US Health care equipment & services 63.9 30,470.0
235 229 A P Moller - Maersk Denmark Industrial transportation 7,057.1 30,469.4
236 241 E I Du Pont de Nemours US Chemicals 33.7 30,428.6
237 217 Ebay US General retailers 23.5 30,423.4
238 199 Ericsson Sweden Technology hardware & equipment 9.2 30,178.7
239 295 Corning US Technology hardware & equipment 19.3 30,048.2
240 234 Cheung Kong Holdings Hong Kong Real estate investment & services 12.9 29,959.9
241 250 Honeywell International US General industrials 39.2 29,911.3
242 283 Industrial Bank China Banks 5.9 29,522.4
243 237 Vinci (Ex Sge) France Construction & materials 56.6 29,473.9
244 230 MTN Group South Africa Mobile telecommunications 16.0 29,468.6
245 253 Bank of Montreal Canada Banks 53.3 29,391.8
246 213 Hutchison Whampoa Hong Kong General industrials 6.9 29,360.6
247 244 Wilmar International Singapore Food producers 4.6 29,265.9
248 215 BMW Germany Automobiles & parts 45.6 29,191.2
249 209 Metlife US Life insurance 35.4 28,944.2
250 236 Goldcorp Canada Mining 39.4 28,924.4
251 181 Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Japan Banks 28.4 28,915.0
252 300 Philips Electronics Netherlands Leisure goods 29.7 28,851.3
Page 8Global 500 December 2009
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253 228 Sony Japan Leisure goods 28.7 28,810.4
254 221 Lockheed Martin US Aerospace & defence 75.4 28,692.0
255 223 Al Rajhi Bank Saudi Arabia Banks 19.0 28,294.3
256 254 Hang Seng Bank Hong Kong Banks 14.8 28,280.4
257 326 Mastercard US Financial services 256.0 28,099.9
258 226 Dell US Technology hardware & equipment 14.4 28,097.6
259 272 Shanghai Pudong Development Bank China Banks 3.2 28,053.8
260 264 Saint Gobain France Construction & materials 54.6 28,015.9
261 267 Southern Copper US Industrial metals & mining 32.9 27,973.5
262 252 KPN Netherlands Fixed line telecommunications 17.0 27,669.4
263 211 Telecom Italia Italy Fixed line telecommunications 1.6 27,570.1
264 281 Nippon Steel Japan Industrial metals & mining 4.0 27,419.5
265 249 Travelers Cos. US Nonlife insurance 49.9 27,242.2
266 431 Nomura Japan Financial services 7.3 27,205.8
267 218 Mizuho Financial Group Japan Banks 1.8 27,143.7
268 248 Carnival US/UK Travel & leisure 31.7 27,141.6
269 286 Halliburton US Oil equipment & services 30.1 27,139.0
270 290 XTO Energy US Oil & gas producers 46.5 27,003.1
271 297 National Grid UK Gas, water & multiutilities 11.0 26,982.3
272 251 Thomson Reuters Canada Media 32.4 26,860.3
273 196 Bharti Airtel India Mobile telecommunications 7.1 26,827.9
274 319 Wellpoint US Health care equipment & services 58.3 26,717.0
275 292 Norilsk Nickel Russia Industrial metals & mining 140.0 26,695.0
276 275 Southern US Electricity 33.3 26,663.0
277 331 Syngenta Switzerland Chemicals 281.2 26,603.1
278 256 Transocean US Oil equipment & services 82.8 26,590.8
279 127 Royal Bank of Scotland UK Banks 0.5 26,580.2
280 336 Mosaic US Chemicals 59.7 26,576.2
281 287 Kimberly-Clark US Personal goods 63.7 26,463.8
282 268 Denso Japan Automobiles & parts 29.9 26,400.0
283 282 General Dynamics US Aerospace & defence 68.2 26,300.1
284 311 Accenture US Support services 41.5 26,245.6
Page 9Global 500 December 2009
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285 288 Prudential UK Life insurance 10.3 26,168.0
286 301 Fedex US Industrial transportation 83.5 26,112.8
287 246 Westfield Group Australia Real Estate Investment Trusts 11.3 26,026.3
288 285 Costco Wholesale US General retailers 59.2 25,994.9
289 274 Nike US Personal goods 66.1 25,880.2
290 296 Sasol South Africa Oil & gas producers 40.5 25,837.0
291 291 Mitsui Japan Support services 14.1 25,758.8
292 309 Canadian National Railway Canada Industrial transportation 54.7 25,748.3
293 350 China Coal Energy China Mining 1.8 25,746.4
294 387 China Minsheng Banking China Banks 1.1 25,676.6
295 346 Anglo Platinum South Africa Mining 107.6 25,639.4
296 270 Celgene US Pharmaceuticals & biotechnology 55.7 25,590.6
297 321 Holcim Switzerland Construction & materials 77.9 25,471.6
298 345 Tenaris Argentina Industrial metals & mining 21.5 25,439.8
299 299 Bharat Heavy Electronics India Industrial engineering 51.7 25,310.7
300 245 CEZ Czech Republic Electricity 47.0 25,256.7
301 294 Softbank Japan Mobile telecommunications 23.3 25,232.2
302 243 East Japan Railway Japan Travel & leisure 63.1 25,221.5
303 334 DBS Group Holdings Singapore Banks 11.0 25,036.0
304 304 CIBC Canada Banks 65.0 24,966.0
305 342 Eog Resources US Oil & gas producers 97.3 24,869.6
306 277 Praxair US Chemicals 80.3 24,839.3
307 446 Baoshan Iron & Steel China Industrial metals & mining 1.4 24,778.9
308 324 Aluminum Corp.of China China Industrial metals & mining 1.1 24,654.9
309 279 Formosa Petrochemical Taiwan Oil & gas producers 2.6 24,540.8
310 142 Encana Canada Oil & gas producers 32.5 24,411.2
311 293 Husky Energy Canada Oil & gas producers 28.7 24,384.5
312 320 PNC Financial Services US Banks 52.8 24,351.5
313 263 Shin-Etsu Chemical Japan Chemicals 56.2 24,275.4
314 308 Siderurgica Nacional Brazil Industrial metals & mining 32.1 24,260.1
315 302 Great West Lifeco Canada Life insurance 25.6 24,222.4
316 313 Fortum Finland Electricity 27.2 24,178.2
Page 10Global 500 December 2009
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317 333 Danaher US Electronic & electrical equipment 75.2 24,156.9
318 306 Franklin Resources US Financial services 105.4 24,151.5
319 340 JFE Holdings Japan Industrial metals & mining 39.2 24,090.4
320 330 Covidien US Health care equipment & services 47.9 24,062.4
321 337 Illinois Tool Works US Industrial engineering 48.0 24,038.7
322 305 Boc Hong Kong Hong Kong Banks 2.3 23,997.8
323 VTB Bank Russia Banks 0.0 23,948.4
324 271 Lafarge France Construction & materials 82.9 23,758.2
325 273 KDDI Japan Mobile telecommunications 5,295.7 23,750.1
326 338 Express Scripts US Health care equipment & services 86.4 23,741.3
327 339 Transcanada Canada Oil equipment & services 34.5 23,606.5
328 335 QBE Insurance Group Australia Nonlife insurance 23.0 23,591.0
329 260 Saudi Telecom Saudi Arabia Fixed line telecommunications 11.8 23,568.6
330 278 Yahoo US Software & computer services 16.8 23,509.7
331 316 Deutsche Post Germany Industrial transportation 19.3 23,391.0
332 318 Heineken Netherlands Beverages 47.7 23,384.4
333 343 General Mills US Food producers 70.8 23,334.5
334 351 Centrica UK Gas, water & multiutilities 4.5 23,290.4
335 378 Telenor Norway Mobile telecommunications 14.0 23,260.6
336 322 Toshiba Japan General industrials 5.5 23,260.2
337 353 Dominion Resources US Electricity 38.9 23,244.6
338 341 Newmont Mining US Mining 47.3 23,189.9
339 435 Eletrobras Brazil Electricity 20.9 23,000.8
340 310 Prudential Financial US Life insurance 49.8 22,989.1
341 348 Hyundai Motor South Korea Automobiles & parts 103.9 22,888.8
342 398 Deere US Industrial engineering 54.1 22,860.5
343 354 Pernod-Ricard France Beverages 86.0 22,681.2
344 370 Simon Property Group US Real Estate Investment Trusts 79.8 22,639.9
345 312 Kweichow Moutai China Beverages 24.9 22,633.4
346 356 Duke Energy US Gas, water & multiutilities 17.2 22,452.3
347 355 CME Group US Financial services 336.0 22,347.7
348 332 Fanuc Japan Industrial engineering 92.7 22,202.6
Page 11Global 500 December 2009
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349 317 Marathon Oil US Oil & gas producers 31.2 22,098.9
350 327 Mitsubishi Estate Japan Real estate investment & services 15.9 22,074.3
351 298 Emirates Telecom. UAE Fixed line telecommunications 3.0 22,013.4
352 418 Gerdau Brazil Industrial metals & mining 12.7 21,939.1
353 323 Charles Schwab US Financial services 18.8 21,871.3
354 303 Tokio Marine Holdings Japan Nonlife insurance 27.2 21,864.2
355 314 FPL Group US Electricity 52.8 21,833.0
356 352 Larsen & Toubro India Construction & materials 36.1 21,663.2
357 360 Aflac US Life insurance 46.3 21,640.3
358 366 Automatic Data Processing US Support services 42.8 21,608.3
359 361 Standard Bank South Africa Banks 13.9 21,584.4
360 269 State Street US Financial services 43.5 21,537.7
361 389 Wipro India Software & computer services 14.6 21,420.7
362 399 United Overseas Bank Singapore Banks 14.0 21,386.8
363 Steel Authority Of India India Industrial metals & mining 5.2 21,359.8
364 307 Kansai Electric Power Japan Electricity 22.6 21,347.1
365 382 BCE Canada Fixed line telecommunications 27.7 21,221.5
366 411 Oversea-Chinese Bkg. Singapore Banks 6.5 21,033.6
367 347 ICICI Bank India Banks 18.8 20,965.8
368 439 Henkel Germany Household goods & home construction 44.7 20,922.6
369 358 Power Financial Canada Life insurance 29.7 20,922.1
370 325 PTT Thailand Oil & gas producers 7.4 20,909.1
371 384 Komatsu Japan Industrial engineering 20.8 20,748.4
372 460 Teck Resources Canada Industrial metals & mining 35.1 20,689.7
373 365 Bae Systems UK Aerospace & defence 5.8 20,554.7
374 395 ITC India Tobacco 5.4 20,458.9
375 394 Linde Germany Chemicals 120.7 20,344.7
376 344 Alstom France Industrial engineering 70.4 20,343.8
377 403 Telekomunikasi Indonesia Indonesia Fixed line telecommunications 1.0 20,278.0
378 383 Kellogg US Food producers 53.2 20,185.4
379 349 Iberdrola Renovables Spain Electricity 4.8 20,120.3
380 390 Unibail-Rodamco France Real Estate Investment Trusts 220.5 20,118.5
Page 12Global 500 December 2009
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381 385 Archer Daniels Midland US Food producers 31.3 20,112.1
382 401 Stryker US Health care equipment & services 50.4 20,034.1
383 357 Gas Natural SDG Spain Gas, water & multiutilities 21.6 19,949.3
384 Fast Retailing Japan General retailers 187.7 19,905.5
385 376 Chunghwa Telecom Taiwan Fixed line telecommunications 1.9 19,842.3
386 388 Swisscom Switzerland Fixed line telecommunications 382.7 19,824.4
387 362 KB Financial Group South Korea Banks 51.3 19,807.4
388 363 MTR Hong Kong Travel & leisure 3.5 19,796.6
389 423 Hess US Oil & gas producers 60.5 19,787.8
390 386 Raytheon US Aerospace & defence 51.5 19,743.3
391 407 Christian Dior France Personal goods 103.0 19,562.3
392 444 Copec Chile Oil & gas producers 15.0 19,534.6
393 412 ThyssenKrupp Germany General industrials 37.9 19,487.0
394 409 Thermo Fisher Scientific US Health care equipment & services 47.7 19,472.5
395 391 Metro Germany General retailers 61.5 19,436.6
396 371 Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Hong Kong Financial services 18.0 19,347.4
397 470 Norfolk Southern US Industrial transportation 52.4 19,285.0
398 429 Adobe Systems US Software & computer services 36.8 19,263.9
399 375 Jardine Matheson Singapore General industrials 30.2 19,256.7
400 425 Allergan US Pharmaceuticals & biotechnology 63.0 19,151.4
401 413 Talisman Energy Canada Oil & gas producers 18.8 19,136.9
402 400 China Railway Group China Construction & materials 0.8 19,050.4
403 453 CSX US Industrial transportation 48.5 19,035.2
404 377 CRH Ireland Construction & materials 27.3 19,034.8
405 402 Eurasian Natural Resources UK Mining 14.8 19,027.6
406 397 Mediatek Taiwan Technology hardware & equipment 17.5 19,017.8
407 Cenovus Energy Canada Oil & gas producers 25.3 18,990.3
408 434 Reed Elsevier Netherlands/UK Media 8.3 18,949.9
409 427 Akbank Turkey Banks 6.3 18,913.5
410 420 Rogers Communications Canada Mobile telecommunications 31.2 18,864.7
411 372 Korea Electric Power South Korea Electricity 29.3 18,787.4
412 447 China Cosco China Industrial transportation 1.2 18,724.7
Page 13Global 500 December 2009
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413 440 Zijin Mining Group China Mining 1.0 18,709.9
414 443 Becton Dickinson US Health care equipment & services 78.9 18,684.1
415 408 Applied Materials US Technology hardware & equipment 13.9 18,592.0
416 379 Chubu Electric Power Japan Electricity 23.9 18,576.6
417 424 Bouygues France Construction & materials 52.3 18,495.4
418 328 Seven & I Holding Japan General retailers 20.4 18,470.6
419 404 National Oilwell Varco US Oil equipment & services 44.1 18,444.5
420 493 Johnson Controls US Automobiles & parts 27.2 18,286.6
421 373 Volvo Sweden Industrial engineering 8.6 18,275.2
422 Novolipetsk Steel Russia Industrial metals & mining 3.0 18,157.5
423 438 Viacom US Media 29.7 18,138.8
424 461 Cathay Financial Taiwan Life insurance 1.9 18,050.7
425 367 Motorola US Technology hardware & equipment 7.8 17,932.9
426 442 Swiss Re Switzerland Nonlife insurance 48.3 17,898.1
427 Grupo Mexico Mexico Industrial metals & mining 2.3 17,895.1
428 469 Svenska Handelsbanken Sweden Banks 28.6 17,827.4
429 441 Staples US General retailers 24.6 17,800.6
430 473 TKI Garanti Bankasi Turkey Banks 4.2 17,792.7
431 428 Snam Rete Gas Italy Gas, water & multiutilities 5.0 17,776.9
432 368 Aviva UK Life insurance 6.4 17,776.8
433 359 Inpex Japan Oil & gas producers 7,529.9 17,758.6
434 488 DnB Nor Norway Banks 10.9 17,692.7
435 369 Astellas Pharma Japan Pharmaceuticals & biotechnology 37.2 17,689.8
436 419 Cadbury UK Food producers 12.9 17,685.3
437 487 Fiat Italy Automobiles & parts 14.7 17,673.3
438 380 Shinhan Financial Group South Korea Banks 37.1 17,592.0
439 436 Swire Pacific Hong Kong General industrials 12.1 17,544.7
440 Richemont Switzerland Personal goods 33.6 17,537.7
441 449 Northrop Grumman US Aerospace & defence 55.9 17,523.0
442 494 Atlas Copco Sweden Industrial engineering 14.8 17,486.4
443 Enbridge Canada Oil equipment & services 46.4 17,475.8
444 416 BB&T US Banks 25.4 17,444.8
Page 14Global 500 December 2009
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445 Impala Platinum South Africa Mining 27.6 17,410.2
446 364 Yahoo Japan Japan Software & computer services 299.1 17,378.5
447 American Tower US Technology hardware & equipment 43.2 17,346.7
448 430 Scottish & Southern Energy UK Electricity 18.8 17,305.8
449 414 China Overseas Land & Inv Hong Kong Real estate investment & services 2.1 17,277.6
450 Capital One Financial US Financial services 38.3 17,238.0
451 457 Air Products & Chemicals US Chemicals 81.1 17,187.9
452 Industries Qatar Qatar General industrials 31.4 17,142.6
453 492 Starbucks US Travel & leisure 23.1 17,069.0
454 415 CSL Australia Pharmaceuticals & biotechnology 29.2 17,060.6
455 451 China Vanke China Real estate investment & services 1.3 16,977.9
456 405 Ace US Nonlife insurance 50.4 16,955.5
457 Tullow Oil UK Oil & gas producers 21.1 16,949.9
458 454 Tyco International US General industrials 35.7 16,936.3
459 462 BT Group UK Fixed line telecommunications 2.2 16,900.6
460 468 Public Service Enterprise US Electricity 33.3 16,823.8
461 Angang Steel China Industrial metals & mining 2.2 16,808.3
462 417 Chubb US Nonlife insurance 49.2 16,798.5
463 410 Kyocera Japan Electronic & electrical equipment 87.8 16,789.2
464 396 Chesapeake Energy US Oil & gas producers 25.9 16,762.7
465 471 McKesson US Food & drug retailers 62.5 16,748.9
466 ICL Israel Chemicals 13.2 16,708.4
467 Southwestern Energy US Oil & gas producers 48.2 16,643.2
468 HDFC Bank India Banks 36.5 16,634.4
469 American Electric Power US Electricity 34.8 16,617.7
470 Beiersdorf Germany Personal goods 65.9 16,605.9
471 PG & E US Electricity 44.7 16,563.4
472 Waste Management US Support services 33.8 16,555.1
473 Sysco US Food & drug retailers 27.9 16,536.0
474 426 Kohl's US General retailers 53.9 16,535.0
475 Naspers South Africa Media 40.7 16,533.7
476 393 EADS France Aerospace & defence 20.2 16,491.8
Page 15Global 500 December 2009
Global rank
December
2009
Global Rank
September
2009 Company Country Sector Price ($)
Market
value ($m)
477 450 Housing Development Finance India Financial services 57.5 16,449.5
478 481 Best Buy US General retailers 39.5 16,436.6
479 448 Hong Kong and China Gas Hong Kong Gas, water & multiutilities 2.5 16,420.1
480 477 China Railway Construction China Construction & materials 1.3 16,402.0
481 381 Veolia Environnement France Gas, water & multiutilities 33.2 16,376.5
482 491 Hang Lung Properties Hong Kong Real estate investment & services 3.9 16,366.2
483 475 Yum! Brands US Travel & leisure 35.0 16,355.5
484 Femsa Mexico Beverages 4.8 16,340.7
485 455 CLP Holdings Hong Kong Electricity 6.8 16,275.6
486 421 Sun Life Financial Canada Life insurance 28.9 16,230.6
487 467 Deutsche Boerse Germany Financial services 83.2 16,226.6
488 Henderson Land Development Hong Kong Real estate investment & services 7.5 16,168.2
489 452 Allstate US Nonlife insurance 30.0 16,115.8
490 437 Indian Oil India Oil & gas producers 6.6 15,981.1
491 445 Acs Activades Cons y Serv Spain Construction & materials 49.9 15,913.8
492 463 British Sky Broadcasting UK Media 9.1 15,907.8
493 392 Danske Bank Denmark Banks 22.8 15,899.5
494 433 Criteria Caixacorp Spain Financial services 4.7 15,897.6
495 Wharf Holdings Hong Kong General industrials 5.8 15,893.0
496 466 Abertis Infraestructuras Spain Industrial transportation 22.6 15,874.3
497 Ahold Netherlands Food & drug retailers 13.3 15,834.7
498 456 Mitsubishi Electric Japan Industrial engineering 7.4 15,799.2
499 Antofagasta UK Mining 16.0 15,792.7
500 329 National Bank of Greece Greece Banks 26.0 15,763.3