[pierced mikey]

Not sure if this was ever was posted but gives you an inside look on what happens with no regulations etc

http://www.chinahush.com/2009/10/21/...tion-in-china/

[Half-Inch Stud]

Yuk.

[PonchoV8]

And people in America buy food from China at Walmart.

[The Boss]

When I was there in 2004 it was terrible & apparently we were there during a favorable weather pattern. When we landed at the airport you could see a haze everywhere & I assumed it was fog since it was early AM, it wasn't. While we were taxiing to the terminal we had to wait to cross a runway while another plane took off - it was out of sight in the haze before the wheels left the ground!

[400 4spd.]

Here is a related story from '06, two years before the Olympic Games.

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32097

[MYGOAT]

That's why we will never be able to compete with them from manufacturing perspective.
Apart from their cheap labour cost they obviously do not spend any money on pollution control which is a significant cost. I remember many years ago getting a bumper bar chromed was easy, lots of shops and reasonable prices. Now I struggle to find a chroming shop and have to pay through the nose. I accept the reasons for why this has happened but it shows another reason why China crap is so cheap.
Our government here down under has slowly been reducing import tariffs over many years forcing us to compete in the global market on a so-called even playing field. Level playing field my arse.

[Tambo]

China has 19% of the world’s population, but consumes
53% of the world's cement
48% of the world's iron ore
47% of the world's coal
.... and the majority of just about every other major commodity.

In 2010, China produced 11 times more steel than the United States.
New World Record: China made and sold 18 million vehicles in 2010.
There are more pigs in China than in the next 43 pork producing nations combined.
China currently has the world’s fastest train and the world’s largest high-speed rail network.

China is currently the number one producer in the world of wind and solar power, but don’t use it themselves.
While they manufacture 80% of the world’s solar panels, they install less than 5% and build a new coal fired power station every week.
In 1 year they turn on more new coal powered electricity than Australia’s total output.

China currently controls more than 90% of the total global supply of rare earth elements.

In the past 15 years, China has moved from 14th place to 2nd place in the world in published scientific research articles

China now possesses the fastest supercomputer on the entire globe.

At the end of March 2011, China accumulated US$3.04 trillion in foreign currency reserves - the largest stockpile on the entire globe.

Chinese consume 50,000 cigarettes every second …

They are already the largest carbon dioxide emitter and their output will rise 70% by 2020!
In the meantime, the Australian Labor Government has instituted a massive Carbon Tax that will increase our cost of living and render our manufacturers uncompetitive, and at the same time make no difference when countries like China are producing carbon at these extraordinary rates.

…..shades of YK2 hysteria.

[arbys]

Sounds like you're taking lessons from The US. My advise is: Don't do it.

[falcon4]

Originally Posted by Tambo

Chinese consume 50,000 cigarettes every second …

Tell me about it...I'm in China this week, sitting in a room where every clown lights up one after another. I'll be a cancer victim before I get out of here for sure.

Even so far inland as near the base of the Hymilayas, the skiy is like a constant brown haze enveloping everything. YUK!

[marshallbeach]

Don't forget, a lot of these industries that are doing this pollution are owned by American companies.

[400 4spd.]

Originally Posted by marshallbeach

Don't forget, a lot of these industries that are doing this pollution are owned by American companies.

Payback is Hell!

[arbys]

Originally Posted by marshallbeach

Don't forget, a lot of these industries that are doing this pollution are owned by American companies.

American companies don't tell them to pollute they choose to pollute so that they gain extra profit. American companies need to figure that into the cost differential.

[The Boss]

Originally Posted by Tambo

China currently controls more than 90% of the total global supply of rare earth elements.

Not true, however they are the only ones currently mining them.

[The Boss]

Originally Posted by marshallbeach

Don't forget, a lot of these industries that are doing this pollution are owned by American companies.

Source?

[Old Goat Racer]

Anybody going out for chinese food tonight?

[PonchoV8]

Anything they get cheaper than anywhere else. Canned foods and dried foods are all easy to ship from the Chinese communists. Walmart is China's six largest customer. There are more pigs in China than people in the USA. I'd watch for any pork. There was a recall at Walmart for some foreign ready to eat pork product.
Walmart is looking for the lowest price. Even the USA and Mexican frozen Broccoli they sell is crap. I love Broccoli casserole, but an in law uses Walmart food to make it and it's junk. I'd give her an extra $10 bucks at family get togethers if she'd spend it on better quality food.

My local Walmart sells a certain beer I drink and I'll grab some Kettle Cooked chips, Pringles or Lays Stax on the way out.

Originally Posted by Old Goat Racer

Anybody going out for chinese food tonight?

I did pest control on restaurants for several years. Without a doubt, the dirtiest kitchens were Chinese restaurants in general. The chain restaurants are mostly immune, but the mom and pop's were always dirty.

[Tim Corcoran]

I was working in Beijing last year on a job for four months. Beijing is rated the most poluted city in the world. On some days the polution was so bad that visibility was impared inside the hanger I was working in. When we went to the great wall the polution was so bad that our pictures were very disappointing. Hardly worth sharing with anyone.

[Tim Corcoran]

Don't be fooled into thinking that if it has an American brand name on it that it's not coming from China. You eat Pringles and criticize the guy for drining 3.2 beer? People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

[The Boss]

Originally Posted by Tim Corcoran

I was working in Beijing last year on a job for four months. Beijing is rated the most poluted city in the world. On some days the polution was so bad that visibility was impared inside the hanger I was working in. When we went to the great wall the polution was so bad that our pictures were very disappointing. Hardly worth sharing with anyone.

The day we went to the Great wall was the clearest of the 10 we were in the country - still has a haze on it. The river outside our hotel in Guangzhou was filled with human waste that was dumped directly into the water.

Did somebody say Chicken?

[gto_ron]

Guys,

I'll stay out of the WalMart discussion. I always buy American when I have a choice. I know we gripe a lot about the EPA( no lead in gas, no zinc in oil, etc) but China is a good example of what we would have if not for for the EPA rules. I want my grandkids to have clean air and water. I want them to see what a beautiful country this is.

regards