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It recently came to this blogger’s attention that the President of Taiwan has won his recent bid for re-election. In order to shed further light upon these developments it is necessary to quote directly from the website of Asia News Network:

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou yesterday defeated rivals Tsai Ing-wen and James Soong sweeping more than 51 per cent of the presidential vote. The incumbent garnered more than 6.68 million votes to win another four year term after a re-election campaign that relied heavily on its China-friendly platform.

This blogger recommends that readers click upon the hyperlinks noted above in order to gain further insight into these developments.

It is often unwise to try to analyze the politics of Taiwan especially when comparing that jurisdiction to China. However, both Taiwan and China are very important players in an increasingly expanding and broad Asian economic landscape. Therefore, to ignore either jurisdiction may be unwise.

Concurrently, it would appear as though the Mainland Chinese economy is experiencing a slowdown of sorts. To quote directly from an article posted on the website of the Thai-ASEAN News Network:

Export growth slowed to 13.4% in December compared with a year earlier, down from 13.8% the previous month, while Chinese imports grew only 11.8% over December 2010, well below the 17% consensus prediction in a Reuters survey of economists…Fourth-quarter 2011 data for gross domestic product (GDP), to be published next week, are now expected to the worst for at least two years. Economic growth may have slowed to 8.7% from a year earlier, according a survey by Bloomberg News, which reports that UBS AG estimates 7.7% growth this quarter…

Readers are strongly encouraged to read this article in detail for further information.

Although it is difficult to say for certain whether any of these forecasts will actually result in an overall slowdown of the Chinese economy this blogger merely finds it interesting to peruse Chinese trends, both political and economic, because such trends can have an impact upon the Southeast Asian region. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is becoming an increasing potent economic conglomeration especially since it encompasses dynamic economies such as the Kingdom of Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam along with emerging economies such as Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia. The “ripple effect” of the different Asian economic strategies can often lead to unforeseen consequences across the pan-Asia spectrum. In any event, simple speculation is sometimes an interesting pastime for both outsiders as well as those well versed in the multifaceted nature of Asian economics.

For information regarding legal matters in Southeast Asia please see: Legal.

Tags: ASEAN, ASEAN Economics, ASEAN economies, Asian Economy, China Business, China economics, China Economy, Chinese economics, Kingdom of Cambodia, Kingdom of Thailand, Pan-Asian Economics, Taiwan election, Taiwan Presidential Election
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It recently came to this blogger’s attention that the Peoples’ Republic of China has posted a trade deficit in United States dollars.  To quote directly from the official website of China Daily, ChinaDaily.com.cn:

BEIJING – China saw a trade deficit of 1.02 billion US dollars from January to March this year, the first quarterly trade deficit in six years, according to figures released Sunday by the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

In comparison, there was a trade surplus of 13.91 billion US dollars in the first quarter of last year.

China’s exports increased 26.5 percent year on year to 399.64 billion US dollars in the first three months this year, while imports soared 32.6 percent to 400.66 billion dollars from a year earlier, figures from the GAC showed.

From January to March, the total value of imports and exports increased 29.5 percent year on year to 800.3 billion dollars, said the customs administration, adding that China reported a small trade surplus of 140 million dollars in March, on the basis of a deficit of 7.3 billion dollars in February.

The administration of this web log highly recommends that readers click upon the hyperlinks above to view this whole story in detail as the discussion within the article is interesting.

There is little doubt that this news will have a direct impact upon the business environment in China as well as a possibly indirect impact upon the Nations which comprise the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Meanwhile, this announcement may also have an impact upon the economy of the United States of America and the American business environment as well. It would appear, at least at the time of this writing, that the American economy is likely to continue to show signs of turbulence as time moves forward, but some economists may see positive implications for the American economy from this recent news. That said, the trade deficit currently being maintained by the Chinese, as noted above, is not particularly large in relative terms as only one year ago the Peoples’ Republic of China maintained a substantial trade surplus with the United States of America.

This news comes at a time when Chinese and Thai authorities have announced that a large trading complex will be erected in Thailand to provide a platform for Sino-Thai trade. Concurrently, it would also appear as though plans continue for a high speed rail link connecting Thailand, particularly Bangkok, directly to Southern China.

It would appear that although China is currently maintaining a trade deficit, that country remains economically vibrant and still on track to become the largest economy in the world as previously noted on this blog when referencing a statement made by the CEO of the American Company General Electric (GE).

Meanwhile, it was recently noted that many of the stock exchanges in the ASEAN region have made deals to act in concert in an effort to create a combined market with a projected capitalization of 1.8 trillion USD. To quote directly from a recent posting on the website TheHinduBusinessLine.com:

Seven stock exchanges in the ASEAN region collaborated on Friday with the launch of ASEAN Brand Identity, ASEAN Exchanges Web site and ASEAN Stars, with the aim of jointly developing regional capital market estimated worth $1.8 trillion…The ASEAN Exchanges collaboration members are Bursa Malaysia, Hanoi Stock Exchange, Hochiminh Stock Exchange, Indonesia Stock Exchange, The Philippine Stock Exchange, Singapore Exchange and the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

Those reading this posting are highly encouraged to click on the hyperlinks above to read more about this story in detail.

As Southeast Asia continues to show signs of an increasing economic dynamism the effect of such events upon large economies such as the US economy and that of China remains to be seen, but it is clear that the business and economic environments in Southeast Asia are considered by many to be becoming increasingly robust as evidenced by the fact that there is a possibility that a combined ASEAN market could have such a relatively substantial capitalization.

For related information please see: business in China.

Tags: ASEAN, ASEAN Brand Identity, ASEAN Business, ASsociation of Southeast ASian Nations, Bursa Malaysia, Business In Indonesia, Business In Malaysia, Business in Philippines, Business In Singapore, Business in Thailand, Business In Vietnam, China Business, China Economy, General Administration of Customs, Hanoi Stock Exchange, Hochiminh Stock Exchange, Indonesia Stock Exchange, SGX, Singapore Exchange, Stock Exchange of Thailand, The Philippine Stock Exchange, Trade Deficit, Trade Surplus
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