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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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The effects of loose monetary policy in China, and the high inflation, make another spurt in spending- like that after the global crisis in 2008- less likely in the event of another crisis.

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The marketing of the iPhone 6 in the U.S., China and global markets helps Apple widen its lead over competitors in 2015. Apple sales were 47.5 million iPhones in the 2nd quarter 2015, increasing by 35% over the prior year quarter. Apple is also gaining sales from buyers switching from Android phones. Apple's iPhone sales now make up 63% of its sales, compared with 53% in the same quarter in 2014. Sales of iPhones increased 59% to $31.37 billion as the average selling price went up by $100 to $662.42. Apple remained above the fray, and actually increased average selling price to $662, as Xiaomi sold quality Android phones at near cost in China hitting Samsung sales and margins hard, and leaving unsold inventory for Samsung in China. Rarely has a company dominated its business in this manner from the standpoint of profits with only about 20% of the market in smartphones. Apple profits in the 2nd quarter were $10.7 billion, increasing from $7.74 billion in the prior year quarter. The iPad unit sales declined by 18% for the 2nd quarter 2015, the sixth quarter of such declines and fewer customers upgrading. The iPad has also not taken off in the workplace. Mac unit sales were up 9%, even though the PC market declined in units by 9.5% globally for the quarter. Apple shares up 39% in 2015, fell by 6.7% over concerns about slowing China sales....

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Japan's NTT telecommunications takes a $600 million stake in NEC so that it can compete more effectively against Huawei of China in 5G technologies and for developing 6G. Huawei has 30% of the global base station business in the new technologies, NEC 1%. NEC plans are now to build this up to 20% by 2030 in this new push. Meanwhile the U.S. is limiting Huawei in 5G by imposing restrictions in manufacturing, and restricting use of American technologies by Asian 5G component manufacturers such as Taiwan Semconductor. NEC and NTT now see the opportunity to partner with other trusted countries and partners  to create a new open system of development. Japan's government has blocked Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE from official contracts. The U.S. has already done this and is pushing allies to stay away from Chinese vendors. The UK is now reconsidering its decision to allow Huawei into its 5G network and is likely to follow the U.S. Sweden's Ericsson has 27% of the global base station market in the new technologies. The U.S. is pulling together American companies in an alliance for American companies to compete in 5 and 6G network equipment manufacturing. Many of the technologies originate in the U.S. ...

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In the third fiscal quarter ending June 28, 2014, Apple sold 35.2 million iPhones, up 13% from the year ago quarter. Profit reported was $7.75 billion for the quarter, up from $6.9 billion in the prior year quarter. Revenue increased to $37.43 billion from $35.32 billion the prior year quarter. Apple is not experiencing the weakness in smartphone sales that Samsung is seeing. The strong sales comes with increasing sales in China following the distribution deal with China Mobile. iPad sales slowed with sales declining to 13.3 million iPads in the quarter, down 9% from the prior year quarter. While Samsung has difficulty in preventing lower cost competitors such as Xiaomi and Huawei from eroding sales in China Apple sales are increasing. Apple's revenue in China increased by 28% for the quarter. China is a western brand conscious market as seen in sales of U.S. and German made automobiles. Another trend Apple is capitalizing on is the sale of larger screen iPhones. Screens larger than 5 inches make up 20% of iPhones shipped in China, according to IDC, which are estimated to go up to 50% by 2017....

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China's president Hu Jintao responds to questions by the WSJ on relations with the U.S., the 2008 financial crisis, the 11th Five Year Plan period, China's currency Renminbi, the Korean peninsula, and China's new assertiveness in foreign affairs.

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Charlie Rose talks to the prime minister of Singapore about China's role in world affairs, its view of America and of its own experience, what's uppermost in the minds of the leadership, and the rise of a post cultural revolution leadership which has grown up in 30 years of post cultural revolution market economy and internet access to information.

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Ford Motor opened its new plant in Chongqing, China. It was approved in 2009 and is operated in a joint venture with Chongqing Changan Automobile Company and Japan's Mazda Motor. It has annual capacity of 150,000 cars and will manufacture the redesigned Ford Focus. Ford says this will be part of 15 new models in China by 2015. Further expansion is expected to be slower from now on, because China's policy is shifting towards consoldating its manufacturing base for automobiles- which experienced hyper level growth in the last decade- and not adding new capacity. Ford made a late entry in the Chinese market compared to GM. It sold 519,300 vehicles in China in 2011, compared to GM's 2.55 million vehicles. The change in China's policy may mean Ford has less opportunity to catch up with VW, GM and Toyota in China.

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Increasing trade tensions as Japan, the US, and other countries struggle to maintain their export competitiveness. The issues surrounding the stronger yen, and the reluctance of China to revalue its currency.

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Japanese carmakers are still recovering from the loss of sales in China's market after the dispute over the Senkaku islands, and are losing ground to GM, VW and other carmakers in the interior of the country.