Factory workers demanding better wages and working conditions are hastening the eventual end of an era of cheap costs that helped make southern coastal China the world’s factory floor.

A series of strikes over the past two months have been a rude wakeup call for the many foreign companies that depend on China’s low costs to compete overseas, from makers of Christmas trees to manufacturers of gadgets like the iPad.

Where once low-tech factories and scant wages were welcomed in a China eager to escape isolation and poverty, workers are now demanding a bigger share of the profits. The government, meanwhile, is pushing foreign companies to make investments in areas it believes will create greater wealth for China, like high technology.

Many companies are striving to stay profitable by shifting factories to cheaper areas farther inland or to other developing countries, and a few are even resuming production in the West.

“China is going to go through a very dramatic period. The big companies are starting to exit. We all see the writing on the wall,” said Rick Goodwin, a China trade veteran of 22 years, whose company links foreign buyers with Chinese suppliers.

“I have 15 major clients. My job is to give the best advice I can give. I tell it like it is. I tell them, put your helmet on, it’s going to get ugly,” said Goodwin, who says dissatisfied workers and hard-to-predict exchange rates are his top worries.

Beijing’s decision to stop tethering the Chinese currency to the U.S. dollar, allowing it to appreciate and thus boosting costs in yuan, has multiplied the uncertainty for companies already struggling with meager profit margins.

In an about-face mocked on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” Wham-O, the company that created the Hula-Hoop and Slip ‘n Slide, decided to bring half of its Frisbee production and some production of its other products back to the U.S.

At the other end of the scale, some in research-intensive sectors such as pharmaceutical, biotech and other life sciences companies are also reconsidering China for a range of reasons, including costs and incentives being offered in other countries.

“Life sciences companies have shifted some production back to the U.S. from China. In some cases, the U.S. was becoming cheaper,” said Sean Correll, director of consulting services for Burlington, Mass.-based Emptoris.

That may soon become true for publishers, too. Printing a 9-by-9-inch, 334-page hardcover book in China costs about 44 to 45 cents now, with another 3 cents for shipping, says Goodwin. The same book costs 65 to 68 cents to make in the U.S.

“If costs go up by half, it’s about the same price as in the U.S. And you don’t have 30 days on the water in shipping,” he says.

Even with recent increases, wages for Chinese workers are still a fraction of those for Americans. But studies do show China’s overall cost advantage is shrinking.

Labor costs have been climbing about 15 percent a year since a 2008 labor contract law that made workers more aware of their rights. Tax preferences for foreign companies ended in 2007. Land, water, energy and shipping costs are on the rise.

In its most recent survey, issued in February, restructuring firm Alix Partners found that overall China was more expensive than Mexico, India, Vietnam, Russia and Romania.

Mexico, in particular, has gained an edge thanks to the North American Free Trade Agreement and fast, inexpensive trucking, says Mike Romeri, an executive with Emptoris, the consulting firm.

Makers of toys and trinkets, Christmas trees and cheap shoes already have folded by the thousands or moved away, some to Vietnam, Indonesia or Cambodia. But those countries lack the huge work force, infrastructure and markets China can offer, and most face the same labor issues as China.

So far, the biggest impact appears to be in and around Shenzhen, a former fishing village in Guangdong province, bordering Hong Kong, that is home to thousands of export manufacturers.

That includes Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology, a supplier of iPhones and iPads to Apple Inc. Foxconn responded to a spate of suicides at its 400,000-worker Shenzhen complex with pay hikes that more than doubled basic monthly worker salaries to $290. Strike-stricken suppliers to Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp., among many others, also have hiked wages.

Foxconn refused repeated requests for comment on plans to move much of its manufacturing capacity to central China’s impoverished Henan province, where a local government website has advertised for tens of thousands of workers on its behalf.

But among other projects farther inland, Foxconn is teaming up with some of the biggest global computer makers to build what may be the world’s largest laptop production hub in Chongqing, a western China city of 32 million where labor costs are estimated to be 20 to 40 percent lower than in coastal cities.

Given the intricate supply chains and logistics systems that have helped make southern China an export manufacturing powerhouse, such changes won’t be easy.

But for manufacturers looking to boost sales inside fast-growing China, shifting production to the inland areas where many migrant workers come from, and costs are lower, offers the most realistic alternative.

“The new game is to find a way to do the domestic market,” says Goodwin.

Many factories in Foshan, another city in Guangdong that saw strikes at auto parts plants supplying Japan’s Honda, have left in the past few months, mostly moving inland to Henan, Hunan and Jiangxi, said Lin Liyuan, dean at the privately run Institute of Territorial Economics in Guangzhou.

Massive investments in roads, railways and other infrastructure are reducing the isolation of the inland cities, part of a decade-old “Develop the West” strategy aimed at shrinking the huge, politically volatile gap in wealth between city dwellers and the country’s 600 million farmers.

Gambling that the unrest will not spill over from foreign-owned factories, China’s leaders are using the chance to push investment in regions that have lagged the country’s industrial boom.

They have little choice. Many of today’s factory workers have higher ambitions than their parents, who generally saved their earnings from assembling toys and television sets for retirement in their rural hometowns. They are also choosier about wages and working conditions. “The conflicts are challenging the current set-up of low-wage, low-tech manufacturing, and may catalyze the transformation of China’s industrial sector,” said Yu Hai, a sociology professor at Shanghai’s Fudan University.

Singapore may overtake China as Asia’s fastest-growing economy this year, increasing the attractiveness of the city state’s stocks and putting pressure on policy makers to check inflation with a stronger currency.

An acceleration in pharmaceutical output and the opening of two casino resorts boosted growth in the first half, the result of Singapore’s efforts to diversify sources of expansion beyond electronics exports. The push to bolster services may sustain the economy and support investment that spurred the island’s benchmark stock index to outperform counterparts in China, Taiwan, Japan and Australia this year.

“Singapore has unique growth characteristics of its own as a function of having some new areas of growth,” said Manraj Sekhon, the London-based head of international equities at Henderson Global Investors Ltd., whose firm oversees about $94 billion in assets, including shares in Singapore companies.

Henderson has “meaningful positions” in Singapore-based companies such as Wilmar International Ltd., the world’s largest palm-oil trader, and Keppel Corp., the biggest maker of shallow- water rigs, he said. Its holdings of Singaporean stocks, also including CapitaLand Ltd. and casino operator Genting Singapore Plc, are “close to the highest positions we’ve had,” he said.

Stock Performance

Singapore’s benchmark stock index has climbed 28 percent in the past year, more than Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Taiwan’s Taiex, while the Shanghai benchmark has fallen 22 percent.

Faster growth may prod the Monetary Authority of Singapore to do more at its next policy review in October, according to Kit Wei Zheng, an economist at Citigroup Inc. in Singapore. Wage pressures are increasing and inflation may reach 5 percent by the end of 2010, from 3.2 percent in May, he said.

“There are now higher odds for the MAS to tighten further in October via a steeper appreciation” of the Singapore dollar, he said. Citigroup, which predicts Singapore’s GDP will advance 12.5 percent this year, says there are upside risks to its forecasts and the expansion may be as much as 15 percent.

The central bank uses the Singapore dollar instead of interest rates to manage inflation, and on April 14 allowed a revaluation and shifted to a stance of gradual appreciation. The currency rose as much as 1.2 percent on the day of the MAS announcement, before slipping the following month as Europe’s debt crisis threatened to slow the global expansion.

Currency Outlook

Singapore’s ties to the global economy mean it’s unlikely to escape the impact of any renewed slowdown. Governments in Europe are embarking on austerity programs to cut budget deficits and households in some of the world’s largest economies are holding back spending, clouding the outlook for the rebound.

“Some cracks are starting to show in the global economy,” said Alvin Liew, a Singapore-based economist at Standard Chartered Plc. “Drugs and tourists likely boosted second- quarter growth above the first quarter but a Jekyll-Hyde year may see a weaker second half. Life can become very unpredictable” if you rely on pharmaceuticals and “start dabbling in casinos,” he said.

Drug Industry

The performance of Singapore’s pharmaceutical industry is volatile as production swings by companies such as Sanofi- Aventis SA can cause industrial output to fluctuate.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s government has raised the island’s GDP forecast twice this year as tourists arrive in record numbers, companies increase hiring and vessels leave the city’s ports carrying more cargo. The economic rebound has caused inflation to accelerate as rising demand stokes home and car prices.

Singapore is likely to become Asia’s fastest-growing economy this year, according to Credit Suisse Group AG and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. Forecasts for the island’s expansion this year range from 9.7 percent to 13 percent among the economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

Estimates by Goldman, BNP Paribas, Macquarie and China International Capital Corp. for China’s 2010 growth range from 9.5 percent to 10.1 percent. The government in Asia’s second- largest economy is scheduled to release second-quarter GDP figures on July 15.

The last time Singapore’s GDP rose more than China’s was in 2000, according to data compiled by the International Monetary Fund.

Singapore’s manufacturing increased an average 45 percent in the first five months of 2010, after declining an average 13 percent in the same period last year. Pharmaceutical output has at least doubled every month from March to May.

In today’s Asia, there are two economic powers of global standing: Japan and China. The balance of economic power between the two is changing, and fast. Sometime this year, China’s GDP will exceed that of Japan (if it has not already done so). China’s economic footprint, moreover, is spreading rapidly across Asia and the rest of the world.

Most Asian countries are recovering strongly from the global recession that set in following the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. China’s growth rate last year was 8.7 percent, and more than 10 percent in the past two quarters. Neighboring countries, like South Korea and Singapore, also are recording very high rates of growth. The only exception is Japan, where a lack of political leadership and a limited knowledge of basic economics among government ministers undermines mid-term growth prospects.

While China’s ability to maintain high growth through the “Lehman Shock” was a remarkable feat of economic management, three important changes in China hold geopolitical implications for the region and the world.

The first change concerns China’s pattern of economic growth, which so far has been achieved mostly by rapidly increasing factor inputs — labor, capital, and energy. According to recent research, however, about one-third of growth in China now comes from technological progress, or an increase in total factor productivity. In other words, China’s growth pattern is coming to resemble that of industrialized economies.

Second, the renminbi is expected to appreciate substantially in the coming years, owing not only to pressure over China’s huge trade surplus, but also to the Chinese government’s understanding that a stronger renminbi, despite its negative impact on exporters, is needed to fight inflation.

The question is how rapidly will China’s authorities allow the renminbi to appreciate. In 1989, before the Tiananmen Square incident, the renminbi’s exchange rate was 45 percent higher than now — a level that could be reattained relatively soon. Between 2003 and 2005, the renminbi appreciated by 20 percent. Given rapid economic growth and continuous renminbi appreciation, Chinese GDP could exceed that of the US as soon as 2015.

However, around 2015, China will face a third dramatic change — a demographic shift reflecting the effects of its long-standing one-child policy. China’s total fertility rate is estimated at around 1.5, implying that the working-age population will begin to decline by the mid-2010s. As a result, economic growth will slow, and China’s domestic problems — such as income inequality — will worsen, even as political institutions that can channel popular grievances remain underdeveloped.

Under such circumstances, the role of political leadership will become much more important. Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) will step down in 2013, but will continue to hold his post on the all-important Central Military Commission until a complete succession is completed, also around 2015. So, all things considered, China’s looming leadership transition is shaping up to be a very challenging period for China and the world.

While China’s economy is growing very rapidly, Japan is still struggling. Indeed, the country desperately requires strong political leadership to prevent a Greek scenario — political leadership that it is unlikely to find. On the contrary, the recent resignation of former Japanese prime minister Yukio Hatoyama created more uncertainty than his own government did.

Hatoyama’s Cabinet, led by his Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), ignored macroeconomic management after taking office in September last year. Instead, as the DPJ had promised its voters, the government focused on increasing spending, including huge new grants to households and farmers. As a result, the share of tax revenue in total spending is less than 50 percent for the first time in Japan’s post-war history. And the government debt-to-GDP ratio is around 190 percent, compared to 120 percent in Greece.

Nevertheless, the market for Japanese Government Bonds (JGBs) has so far remained stable. Because JGBs are purchased mainly by domestic organizations and households, there is little risk of capital flight, despite the seriousness of the budget situation. In other words, the government’s negative saving is being financed by the private and household sectors’ positive saving.

This situation, however, is changing. First, the volume of JGBs has soared relative to Japanese household assets. Japanese households hold about ￥1,100 trillion (US$12.5 trillion) in net monetary assets, an amount that will be exceeded in about three to five years by the value of JGBs. At that point, government debt will no longer be backed up by taxpayers’ assets. And, reflecting the aging of Japanese society, the household savings rate itself will decline dramatically, making it difficult for the private sector to finance annual budget deficits.

At the same time, Japan’s demographic trends will boost demand for fiscal expenditure, as pension and health-care costs rise. So, sooner or later, a tax hike will be necessary.

Without comprehensive reform under strong political leadership, a tax hike alone cannot solve Japan’s problems. And the impact on Asia and the global economy of a fiscal crisis in Japan would make Greece’s troubles look like a walk in the park. Greece’s GDP share in the EU is about 3 percent. Japan’s GDP share is about one-third of Asia and 8 percent of the world.

So the future in Asia now appears to belong to China, whose economic growth supports that of neighboring countries — and whose mercantilism is prevailing in the region. In order to compete with China’s export-boosting public-private schemes, other Asian countries are now pursuing similar policies.

In some cases, this will harm free trade, and governments should be careful to avoid measures that distort resource allocation. This matters for every country, because Asia is now an important center of global economic growth. The world’s expectations for responsible economic management by the governments of both China and Japan — and thus the need for it — are growing by the day.

Heizo Takenaka was minister of economics, minister of financial reform and minister of internal affairs and communications under former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi. He is now director of the Global Security Research Institute at Keio University in Tokyo.

When China designed the 2010 Universal Expo in Shanghai as a showcase for its new public diplomacy, it probably did not envision the exhibition would play a much bigger role as a magnet for recession-hit European businesses.

A series of trade missions has traveled to Shanghai in the past two months, wooing Chinese investors in an attempt to boost Europe’s weakened economies.

The Belgian trade mission was among the first to visit, hoping to persuade Chinese car manufacturer Geely to add beleaguered Opel Antwerp to its collection of European acquisitions, such as Volvo.

Then Greek Economy Minister Louka Katseli used the Expo to hail China’s commitment to inject billions of dollars into the country’s debt-ridden economy and to invite Chinese companies to set up businesses in Greece. Earlier, Romanian business envoys discussed with Chinese bankers and investors a series of projects to allow Chinese money to flow in and buoy up the country’s struggling industries.

“If China had wanted to go into Greece in such a big way before, Greek politicians and the public may have objected, using the pretext of these standards and those requirements but because of the sovereign debt crisis the situation has changed,” says Lu Feng, researcher with the National School of Development at Beijing University. “The European crisis has brought some definite opportunities for Chinese investors.”

Beijing’s response has been quick and bold. Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang signed 14 deals worth several billion euros during his visit to Athens this month. The investment package, reportedly the biggest by China in Europe, will enable Chinese corporations to secure controlling stakes in major telecommunications, real estate and shipping organizations.

China’s aggressive foray came at the same time as credit rating agencies were downgrading Greek bonds to junk status. Commerce Minister Chen Deming said Beijing would encourage Chinese companies to invest in Greece.

Cosco, China’s powerful shipping group, has pledged to proceed with plans to build a new container-handling terminal at Piraeus port – Greece’s biggest. The company intends to turn Piraeus into a regional entry hub for Chinese goods and commodities.

“This is a strategic investment on our part and the sovereign debt crisis will not affect the project,” Wei Jiafu, president of Cosco told China’s 21st Century Business Herald newspaper.

Initial fears that the European crisis may give rise to protectionist sentiments in some of the affected countries have not materialized. Greece is not the only EU member looking to tap Chinese money to bolster its economy. Ireland’s business community is said to be working on obtaining an approval for a 50 million euro (US$61 million) project to create a Chinese manufacturing hub in Athlone, central Ireland.

The attractions for Chinese investors in the Athlone project are numerous. A manufacturing center operated inside the euro zone will bypass a range of tariffs and quotas levied by the EU on imported Chinese goods while benefiting from a developed infrastructure network and low corporate tax rates.

While the sovereign debt crisis has triggered a plunge in the value of the euro, which has made Chinese exports to the zone more expensive, it has also brought some advantages to investors.

“The slide of the euro has slashed business operation costs in Europe and has made investing there much more attractive to Chinese businesses,” says Zhou Jizhong, professor at the Shanghai University of Finance.

Before the crisis China has made only modest investments in European states.

The Chinese “feared the business environment here is too hostile and that there are too many regulatory aspects they are not familiar with”, says Duncan Freeman, senior research fellow at the Brussels Institute of Contemporary China Studies. “They have had some spectacular failures before as with TCL’s takeover of French electronics firm Thomson, which went bankrupt.”

Individual Chinese businesses have been coy about making inroads into European markets, preferring to enter under the umbrella of bigger economic entities. The Shanghai economic partnership with Hamburg has been one of the few successful examples of Chinese investment in Europe on a larger scale.

Chinese mergers and acquisitions in Europe have grown in proportion with the rise of Chinese investments globally. Chinese investments into foreign companies are projected to exceed $35 billion this year, driven by big purchases within the resource sector.

In March, 13-year-old Chinese carmaker Geely paid $1.8 billion for Ford’s ailing Volvo unit. The deal was the largest acquisition of an overseas carmaker by a Chinese company and the first time China had acquired a major luxury brand.

In Sweden – Volvo’s homeland – the acquisition triggered some negative comments in the media about China encroaching on European icons, but that did not stop the Belgians from courting (unsuccessfully) Chinese investment to rescue Opel Antwerp.

Chinese observers believe that by deploying hard currency to buy assets in depressed European markets China is getting more than just favorable deals. They argue China is setting an example of a responsible global player helping Europe ride out the crisis through its increased consumption of European goods.

The plunge in the euro has made European goods cheaper in China, resulting in a jump in EU exports to China. In the first quarter of 2010 European exports to China grew 47.3%, reversing a long-standing trend of soaring imports from China.

“We have not been sitting idly as the crisis in Europe has unfolded,” said Lu Feng. “We have bought more cars from Germany and more goods from other European countries. We have created demand much-needed in Europe.”

El índice chino de compras en el sector manufacturero (PMI) cayó 1.8 unidades el pasado junio respecto a mayo y se colocó en 52.1 por ciento, 2.1 enteros aún arriba de la línea que marca expansión económica, se informó hoy.

La Federación China de Distribución y Compras (FChDC) precisó que su índice PMI aglutina varios indicadores que retratan el desempeño del sector de manufacturas, y su caída de la línea de 50 por ciento refleja contracción.

Por segmentos, los marcadores de producción, nuevas órdenes y precios de compras cayeron, aunque el total subió y alcanzó 16 meses seguidos por encima de las 50 unidades, en la que es también su segunda baja al hilo, señaló la agencia Xinhua.

Esta nueva caída indica que la expansión de las manufacturas chinas se modera en su ritmo debido a las políticas macroeconómicas de regulación y la lenta recuperación económica mundial, indicó a su vez la Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas.

Las recientes medidas sobre bienes raíces y la crisis de la deuda fiscal europea influyeron en el PMI, que se realiza mediante encuestas, dijo Lu Ting, economista para China del Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Por su parte Zhang Liqun, investigador del Centro de Investigación en Desarrollo del Consejo de Estado, expuso que la cifra de este indicador muestra que el crecimiento económico de la nación asiática tiende a estabilizarse.

Las autoridades chinas darán a conocer el próximo jueves 15 los datos del Producto Interno Bruto (PIB) en el segundo cuatrimestre así como crecimiento de precios y producción industrial en junio.

Asia es una región muy heterogénea no sólo económica sino también políticamente, y para citar un ejemplo, basta mencionar a las dos Coreas. No obstante, si revisamos los principales indicadores y las previsiones económicas para China, India, Taiwán, Hong Kong, Corea, Singapur, Malasia, Indonesia, Tailandia, Filipinas y Vietnam -es decir, para los once países a los que normalmente se aglutina bajo el concepto de Asia emergente- advertiremos muchas coincidencias.

En primer lugar está la similitud en el ritmo de crecimiento. Se prevé que todos los países de Asia emergente crezcan este año y el próximo a un ritmo mucho mayor que el de otras regiones; las previsiones apuntan a un rango que va entre el 8% y el 8,5%. Eso sí, este crecimiento variará entre una tasa superior al 10% para China y un ritmo más cercano al 4% para Filipinas y Tailandia. La segunda similitud está en tendencia de los precios y la política monetaria. En todos los países asiáticos excepto Taiwán, el fuerte crecimiento está empujando los precios al alza y la persistencia de las presiones inflacionistas hace prever subidas de tipos de interés a lo largo de 2010.

En tercer lugar y, en parte como corolario de lo anterior, se espera que las divisas asiáticas se revaloricen a lo largo de este año. La cuarta similitud está en la salud de las cuentas públicas. A pesar del gasto que supusieron los cuantiosos programas de estímulo contra la crisis en 2008, se calcula que el déficit fiscal de la mayoría de los países asiáticos se situará por debajo del 3% en 2011. Sólo India, y posiblemente Malasia y Vietnam, se situarán todavía por encima de ese umbral.

La quinta semejanza la encontramos en las cuentas externas. De los once países de Asia emergente, sólo India y Vietnam tienen un déficit por cuenta corriente. El superávit en balanza de pagos se explica porque se trata de una región eminentemente exportadora, a pesar del mayor dinamismo de la demanda interna en los últimos años. En el interior de la región, en lo que constituye un creciente comercio intra-asiático, China juega un papel fundamental y fuera de las fronteras, la Unión Europea es uno de los principales destinos de las exportaciones asiáticas. De ahí que les preocupe la depreciación del euro, la debilidad del crecimiento europeo y el peligro de una burbuja inmobiliaria en China.

Aunque hoy por hoy todos los ojos están puestos en la crisis de crédito europea, el posible riesgo de recalentamiento de China es un tema no menos recurrente. Específicamente, preocupa una involución del sector inmobiliario, el aumento de la deuda de las corporaciones locales chinas y el efecto contractivo que podrían tener nuevas medidas para controlar la inflación. Esos temores son legítimos aunque conviene ponerlos en perspectiva. En relación al sector inmobiliario, el riesgo de un desplome de los precios está limitado por el menor endeudamiento permitido en la compra de viviendas que deben ser adquiridas con un pago al contado de entre 30% y 50%.

En cuanto al fuerte aumento de la deuda de los Gobiernos locales para financiar infraestructura, no hay que olvidar que el crecimiento generado por estas infraestructuras acrecentará los ingresos fiscales y que se dispone de activos públicos, entre ellos cerca del 32% de las acciones de empresas chinas cotizadas, que pueden venderse en caso de necesidad.

Por último, la reciente flexibilización del mercado de cambios y posible revalorización del yuan hará menos necesarias medidas adicionales para controlar la inflación, tales como el alza de los tipos de interés. Además, el objetivo de la política económica china ha evolucionado desde el crecimiento a la redistribución del ingreso, lo que permitirá el aumento del consumo y un mayor equilibrio de la economía.

Así pues, a pesar de los riesgos inherentes a los desequilibrios que puede crear un fuerte ritmo de crecimiento, Asia, con una alta tasa de ahorro y bajo endeudamiento, unas cuentas públicas saneadas, una balanza de pagos equilibrada y abundancia de reservas internacionales presenta un panorama económico muy favorable. ¿Significa esto que en el contexto actual recomendemos invertir en los mercados de capitales de la región, es decir en Bolsa y deuda asiáticas? En principio si, porque tras la corrección de los mercados bursátiles y de crédito globales, las cotizaciones de los mercados asiáticos han quedado en niveles de valoración más atractivos y porque prevemos que la mayoría de las grandes empresas asiáticas seguirán mejorando sus resultados empresariales gracias a la recuperación económica y al avance del comercio mundial.

No obstante, en el momento de invertir en deuda y renta variable asiática, creemos conveniente olvidarnos de las coincidencias entre los países miembros de la región y discriminar entre ellos ya que ni todos se encuentran en la misma fase de aplicación de políticas económicas ni todos se verán igualmente beneficiados por la evolución económica y empresaria global.

Singapore’s manufacturing output increased an impressive 58.6 percent year-on-year in May, official data showed on Friday.

This is higher than the 51 percent growth recorded in April, the Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB) showed on Friday.

The EDB figures showed output grew across-the-board for all clusters.

Output of the biomedical manufacturing cluster expanded 117.0 percent year-on-year in May, largely driven by pharmaceuticals which grew 121.8 percent, on the back of a high value-added product-mix.

Output of the electronics cluster increased 51.8 percent in May on-year, with all segments recording higher output due in part to strong export demand and a low production base during the economic downturn last year. Leading the cluster is the semi-conductor segment which grew 69.0 percent.

Precision engineering’s output expanded 40.5 percent, while the chemicals cluster’s output grew 19.6 percent with a 50.8 percent gain in the petrochemicals.

Output of the general manufacturing cluster increased 18.5 percent, with all segments within the cluster registering higher output. The transport engineering cluster’s output registered the lowest growth of 0.3 percent.

On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, Singapore’s manufacturing output increased 5.2 percent in May.

Singapore has emerged as the most liveable Asian city in a new index. It was ranked third worldwide coming in behind Geneva and Zurich in the Global Liveable Cities Index.

Published by Singapore’s Centre for Liveable Cities, the index looked at 64 cities including 36 from Asia.

When it comes to liveability, Singapore has been ranked up there with some of Europe’s best cities.

In individual rankings, it came in first for domestic security and stability and third for good governance and leadership.

And it ranked 5th for economic vibrancy and quality of life.

But Singapore paled in the area of eco-friendliness and sustainability which looked at things like pollution and environmental initiatives.

Dr Tan Khee Giap, lead researcher, Global Liveable Cities Index, said: “We did very well on water management but this data is not available to most cities. Data which is available in Singapore but not available in most of the 64 cities we studied, will not be used.”

Dr Tan said cities can work with the centre if they want to improve their ranking.

He said: “We do simulations by looking at cities and identify 20 weakest indicators among the more than 100 indicators we have. And hypothetically, if you improve your weakest 20%, how would your ranking be raised? So in that sense, it is more constructive than just doing a ranking which can be a beauty contest.”

These preliminary findings of the index were unveiled at the World Cities Summit on Tuesday.

The Centre for Liveable Cities said the index is still a work in progress.

While the index is comprehensive and covers 135 indicators, it is by no means complete.

Dr Tan said that they may be looking to include more factors such as gender bias.

Other cities, such as Penang and Tatarstan, have also indicated interest in being included in the index.

The index’s framework will be put up for further discussion during a workshop at the summit on Wednesday.

The Centre for Liveable Cities said its index stands out from other current rankings as it takes a more balanced approach.

But the way it’s computed will be discussed and refined further.

Andrew Tan, director, Centre for Liveable Cities, said: “In terms of looking at liveability from a more holistic and balanced framework, I think there are probably very few, if any, such set of indicators around.”

Separately, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan also proposed a “Learning Network for Cities,” to share the best practices in building a liveable city.

He said: “Cities differ from one another in size and character. They are shaped by their own demographics, cultures and traditions, their history and geography.

“But there are some recurring themes in the sustainable development practices of successful cities. These themes include strong governance, citizen engagement, balancing development and the environment, and international collaborations.”

The push for sustainable urban living comes at a time when cities are growing at an unprecedented rate.

Every day, about 200,000 people move in cities and towns and by 2050, seven in 10 people will live in cities.

This presents challenges for governments to provide access to clean water, affordable housing and good sanitation.

Un grupo empresarial europeo dijo que el tratamiento cada vez más injusto dado a compañías extranjeras por el gobierno de China está volviendo al país un lugar menos atractivo para hacer negocios y advirtió el martes que algunas compañías pudieran irse.

“Las autoridades chinas en general no deberían dar por sentada la presencia de compañías europeas”, dijo Jacques de Boisseson, presidente de la Cámara de Comercio de la Unión Europea en China, en una conferencia de prensa.

Beijing enfrenta cada vez más quejas de que el país viola el espíritu de sus compromisos de libre comercio al usar tecnología y otras políticas para promover empresas chinas a expensas de rivales extranjeras. Grupos empresariales estadounidenses también han advertido que pudiera reconsiderar planes de negocios en China.

Un sondeo anual de 500 empresas europeas encontró que 36% consideran que las políticas chinas se han vuelto más injustas en los últimos dos años y un porcentaje ligeramente mayor espera que las condiciones empeoren, dijo la cámara de la UE.

Una importante queja se refiere a la política de Beijing de “innovación indígena”, que favorece la tecnología nacional en adquisiciones gubernamentales. Compañías dicen que eso les obligará a entregar secretos industriales y otra información que pudiera ayudar a sus rivales chinos, si desean venderle al gobierno.

Esatados Unidos y la UE están presionando a China para que elimine esa política. Funcionarios estadounidenses dijeron luego de conversaciones de alto nivel en mayo que los líderes chinos prometieron realizar cambios, pero un funcionario del gabinete chino dijo que la política proseguirá como estaba planeado.

Compañías europeas se quejaron además de que China es más estricta con el cumplimiento de las normas de protección ambiental con ellas que con las compañías nacionales, dijo la cámara de comercio. Mencionaron además la débil protección de los derechos de propiedad intelectual y un confuso proceso para registros de compañías, visas y permisos de trabajo.

No es ninguna sorpresa que la población de la región esté alcanzando rápidamente los 600 millones, mientras la media del PIB de 1.500 millones de dólares. El crecimiento económico continúa siendo fuerte, especialmente en mercados emergentes como Vietnam.