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China reports no new coronavirus infections for the first time on March 19. The outbreak in Italy now surpasses that in China.  The U.S. government is now shifting to social distancing as the most effective way to control the spread and away from focus on widespread testing as a containment tool. The experience in China shows social distancing works, quarantine works. Countries and regions that have neglected to do this early are the ones worst hit, including most of Europe.  The reintroduction of the infection after its containment is addressed by quarantine and social distancing and use of masks, government disinfecting hard surfaces in all public areas, a program implemented strictly in Asian countries such as Singapore, China, Taiwan, and other Asian countries. Use of masks was common in Asian countries in earlier episodes of SARS and other epidemics, making it widely used long before this crisis. This is making a significant impact in addition to social distancing and other quarantine measures taken in China.   ...

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China decides to go ahead with a reception honoring the 40th anniversary of the setting up of diplomatic ties with Japan in 1972. Hu Shuli, editor in chief of Caixin Media, economic journalist, says job losses for Chinese working in Japaneses owned companies will hurt China. China received $12.6 billion of Japanese investment in 2011, in comparison the U.S. received $14.7 billion, according to Japan's External Trade Organization.

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The head of VW's truck operations Mr. Heinzmann will assume the new position on the management board overseeing Chinese operations. The head of the Chinese operations, Mr Neumann, was earlier expected to take this position, but will now be given another assignment. VW's sales in China increased by 17% to 2.3 million and worldwide sales up 14% to 8.2 million in 2011. VW has seen tremendous growth under CEO Martin Winterkorn.

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NYT's Keith Bradsher points out that weak sales in interior of China, and construction industry no longer supporting the economy, is leading to the new policy of pushing solar/EV's exports and sales overseas. These industries are state promoted with hidden subsidies of land, energy, and labor pool that the US lacks in similar subsidies- subsidies treated with theory arrogance in the US by economists who lack a grasp of the realities of manufacturing and trade. President Biden is freeing US industry from this stranglehold of weak economic theory that has too long beset US industry, by supporting American industry in every way possible, protecting and enlarging American manufacturing, and CHIPS technology scientific endeavors.

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Efforts by homebuyers in China to evade government restrictions designed to control rising prices.

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Analysts are predicting problems for Honda's plants in China stemming from wage increases. The wages of 500,000 yen per year for a worker in Honda's Chinese plants are double what is paid for a factory worker in India or 33% higher than in Thailand. For the Guangzhou plant to meet domestic demand it would have to have a 50-50 joint venture with a Chinese company, and this would mean getting government approval. For now that plant will remain an export hub. The entire plant -out of 4 Honda has in China- is committed to exporting the Jazz compact to Europe with production of 50,000 vehicles a year. Honda now owns 65% of the plant.

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India is an attractive place for foreign investors with the country moving up 23 places in the ease of doing business rankings of the World Bank. Growth is faster than China since 2015, and GDP is expected to double to $5 trillion by 2030, according to government think tank NITI Aayog. Corporate deal making from foreign investors exceeds that in China. Mergers and acquisitions targeting Indian companies reaching a total of $93.7 billion in 2018, up 52% from last year, according to Dealogic. Overseas purchases were $39.5 billion for India in 2018 compared to $32.8 billion for China. In comparison to China where trade tensions are increasing, India under the Modi government has improved the ease of doing business- implementing a new bankruptcy code, easing foreign direct investment rules, introduced a nationwide goods and services tax to replace a hodge podge of taxes in different states. In the consumer sector Unilever NV made purchase of a malted drink brand Horlicks from GlaxoSmithKline PLC as part of a $3.75 billion deal. Softbank led a $1 billion investment in OYO Hotels. In infrastructure Tata Steel made a $8.3 billion acquisition of steelmaker Bhushan Steel. Reliance Jio's aggressive push in mobile with low prices is leaving the telecom industry ripe for mergers and consolidation- Bharti Infratel acquired Indus Towers for $6.5 billion. Closely held family companies are also selling out their controlling stakes. ...

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A study by the director of the obesity center and professor of global nutrition at the University of north Carolina at Chapel Hill states that based on data collected from 20,000 patients in China over the last 15 years obesity has increased 1.2% a year among men in that time. The study says that more than 25% of the adults in China are overweight or obese and that the number could double in the next 20 years. Its a result mainly of improving living standards which make vegetable oil affordable, and beef and dairy foods more available and affordable. A sedentary lifestyle for many Chinese plays a part as well.

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China's slowdownand how it is affecting Asian neighbors like S. Korea and Japanfor whom China is a major export market. Demand for raw materials will be slowing and Australia a big exporter of raw materials will be affected.

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China's new prime minister Li Keqiang makes his first foreign trip with a trade delegation for talks with Indian representatives and business leaders, showing the importance he places on India. India offers China's companies access to large opportunties in infrastructure development, and China can benefit from India in the area of information technology and pharmaceuticals. Trade is envisioned as expanding from $70 billion in 2012 to $100 billion by 2015, and expanding rapidly as the two economies grow. Economic contacts also would provide an anchor for future relations as China faces difficulties in its relations with Japan, and S. E. Asian countries, and a U.S. wary of China's capabilities. This was pointed out in the joint statement. Li Keqiang also emphasized this in an editorial page article in India's daily newspaper, the Hindu, saying India and China have "to work hand in hand," to promote Asia as "an anchor for world peace." A peaceful India-China trade and economic relationship opens the way for investment and participation in development by China alongside Japan, Germany, France, UK and the U.S. in India, as the next major source for global economic growth. This also serves to defuse Asian tensions as both economies grow, and increased contacts between cities in India and China with the twining of cities program launched in the meetings. India can use China's capabilities in infrastructure development, the two countries share the need for information sharing on lowcost solutions in healthcare, in managing urbanization, and solutions for clean water in rural areas, and use of IT solutions in development, where much remains to be accomplished through cooperation. Some of these themes are the focus of Li Keqiang in his efforts for urbanization in China. ...

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Thucydides, Greek historian on the Peloponnesian War between Sparta and Athens 431 BC, cited by Xi Jinping of China during DJT visit to China, May 2026. “Can China and the United States transcend the so-called ‘Thucydides Trap’ and forge a new paradigm for major-power relations?” "Thucydides Trap," is about one established power being threatened by another rising power, as Sparta felt threatened by a rising Athens in the Greek world around 431 BC, leading to a long over 30 years war.  “The Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-US relations,” Xi said, of Taiwan, an island near China's coast where ChiangKaishek set up his government after the fall of his government in Beijing in 1949 to Communist People's Army of Mao Zedong. “If mishandled, the two nations could collide or even come into conflict, pushing the entire China-US relationship into a highly perilous situation."  What China sees is a future of strong economic growth based on China having built its industrial strength and world trade to exceed 1.2 trillion dollars of trade surplus in 2026. Yet this is only the beginning. US and European Union, and India+Japan are three economic regions compared to the situation in Greek history. The combined three economic regions potential for scientific and industrial advances in the future till 2045 in a synergistic fashion one building on top of the other's advances, far exceed the potential of the Chinese economy and industry by itself. This is why any such conflict may over time fizzle away as three economic regions of EU, US and India advance, particularly the 1.4 billion people of India, which will see growth rates of 20% annually for 10 years to 2035 in Eastern Indian region of the size of the EU. That region extends from Lucknow and Patna to Vizag and Chennai. Another aspect of this concerns China itself which sees slowing growth of 5% in 2026. Growth could slow further as US, European Union and India/Japan push back on Chinese exports during a period of reindustrialization in US, EU, Japan and rapid industrial development in India to 2040. China's development is only midway in terms of per capita GNP which lags most of Europe and the US, Japan. Thus the main concern in China is that China will not be able top go beyond middle income country as its demographics and aging population look more like Japan's over the period 2026-2040. China needs the US EU trade and markets for it to meet the needs and aspirations of its 1.4 billon people as the other engines of development such as housing construction, infrastructure building, have lost momentum. ...

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Keith Bradsher provides a detailed account of how the new high speed rail system is transforming China by making access to distant cities possible, sometimes in a few hours.

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Wuhan has announced  only 3 new confirmed cases since March 18. Restrictions on travel were lifted after a 77 day lockdown on the city, allowing inbound and outbound travel. Some restrictions on housing complexes have been tightened after reports of dozens of asymptomatic cases. The number of asymptomatic cases remains unknown. There is a fear of a second outbreak and authorites are staying vigilant, as it is feared that the first outbreak was worse than previously thought. Epidemiologists, intelligence agencies, and health experts believe the number of cases reported in Wuhan and China are undercounted. This could be they say a result of local officials wanting to present a better picture, of not enough testing in the early stages, not counting people who died at home, and including people who died of pneumonia under pneumonia instead of coronavirus. Dr Birx, head of the U.S. response effort,  says the U.S. lists people who died of pneumonia in New York as coronavirus deaths because of how widespread it is there, hitting seven people in a thousand. In addition there is a problem for all countries in counting people without symptoms. No one even knows how big that is, and Dr Birx in the U.S. says it is important to find out. ...

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The U.S. and Australia setup naval cooperation in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean with ships of both countries in naval exercises.

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Infrastructure building on the Uttarkhand border with China. Uttarkhand is a northern Indian state that has a large border with China. The border with China and Nepal in this region extends for 625 kilometres.

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How China's coal gasification projects can contribute to global warming by the co2 emissions that they create. China is fast tracking a lot of coal gasification plants but not much effort or attention is being given to the carbon dixide that it will generate . And technologies to capture and store the carbon dioxide emissions are nowhere near being a reality. China will soon pass the U.S. as the largest source of greenhouse gases in the world.

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Xi tells Senate majority leader Schumer on a visit to Beijing that China has every reason to want stable relations with the US. Xi meets Biden at a November Summit meeting in the US.

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China's rare offer for disarmament or first use restraint talks with the US as both sides increase their military nuclear missile arsenals in 2024 and increase military spending. How should the US respond?

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BP's global oil outlook 2013-2030 shows demand from China is still a big part of the story two decades from now. Factor in demand from Russia, the Middle East and India, yet China still dominates the picture for growth in demand. For 2000-2011 China's share of global demand growth for energy was 55%, under BP's outlook China's share for 2011-2030 drops to 43%. Fossil fuels still dominate. The continuing dependence on fossil fuels is also the perspective of Shell CEO Voser in an interview with the WSJ in Jan 2013, who also sees strong growth in shale gas supplies from China. Coal will account for 61% of global demand growth to 2030, oil 43%, gas 25%, in BP's outlook. If Voser is right and with the need for cleaner burning natural gas gas considering high air pollution in Chinese cities, gas may take a bigger share than 25%. Shell CEO Voser looks out 4 decades from now and sees one third of global demand coming from renewable energy, 10% from nuclear, and the rest from fossil fuels.

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Lingling Wei on Chinese policy on trade with the US in the WSJ and China seeking a visit by DJT to Beijing instead of APEC side meeting in South Korea. A meeting in Washington DC is seen as risky after the Zelensky meeting with DJT took an unexpected turn, and the idea of meeting in Beijing gives more opportunity for getting an organized result and show China's standing in the world of nations. This happens after XI met Putin in Beijing on Victory Day celebrations for World War II where Russian and Chinese losses were far larger than European or US losses. China's huge losses in the millions have not received much attention in the US or Europe. This is also true for losses by the Philippines, Indonesia and India from decisions made during wartime by colonial powers and the Imperial Japanese Army. A meeting of Xi and DJT in Beijing from China's point of view may also show China is ready to work with the US in trade and the economy where it has huge interests in a stable transition to where Chinese industry does not overproduce what it cannot sell and seeks a diversified market shifting away from concentration in the US. Both Xi and DJT are playing to a domestic and international audience to show they are wise leaders willing to engage and at the same time protecting their national interests. The issues of support for Ukraine and fentanyl sources in China remain unresolved. ...

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Investment strategies of China Investment Corp., China's sovereign wealth fund. WSJ's Lingling Wei's interview with Wang Jianxi, executive vice president and chief risk officer at China Investment Corp., in March 2012.