OUTLOOK ASIA: by Mal Binnie, our Pacific Rim correspondent reporting from Australia

摘要

For the last 2 months business activity has continued at a steady pace of growth in the Pacific countries. New Zealand has reelected its Government with only minor changes but the same Prime Minister. Australia has increased its terrorist threat level in coordination with the USA and Europe. China and Asia continue with steady growth. Australia has seen its currency fall below $US0.90 and some economists are predicting the $Aus in the range 0.73 to 0.85 by mid 2015. Chinas financial position remains strong Qtrl GDP was 7.4% and Qtr2 rose to 7.5%. Qtr3 results should confirm this growth. Recent claims of productivity declining in China is seen by many as more headline hunting than reality. PMI for China in August did decline to 51.1 but only by 0.6 from 51.7. In China nearly 30million people per year move upward in income level and add to the domestic market for TV's, refrigerators etc and increase the consumption of plastics. It is reported that China is also expanding its manufacturing in the USA based on cheap energy and City/State incentives. Currently China's cost advantage over US producers is claimed to have reduced to 4%.