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CHINA TILTS RESOURCE BALANCE

Michael T Klare

Asia Times, April 7, 2010

Think of it as a tale of two countries. When it comes to procuring the resources that make industrial societies run, China is now the shopaholic of planet Earth, while the United States is staying at home. Hard-hit by the global recession, the United States has experienced a marked decline in the consumption of oil and other key industrial materials. Not so China. With the recession's crippling effects expected to linger in the US for many years, analysts foresee a slow recovery when it comes to resource consumption. Not so China.

In fact, the Chinese are already experiencing a sharp increase in the use of oil and other commodities. More than that, anticipating the kind of voracious resource consumption that goes with anticipated future growth, and worried about the availability of adequate supplies, giant Chinese energy and manufacturing firms - many of them state-owned - have been on a veritable spending binge when it comes to locking down resource supplies for the 21st century. They have acquired oil fields, natural gas reserves, mines, pipelines, refineries, and other resource assets in a global buying spree of almost unprecedented proportions.

Like most other countries, China suffered some ill effects from the great recession of 2008. Its exports declined and previously explosive economic growth slowed from record levels. Thanks to a well-crafted US$586 billion stimulus package, however, the worst effects proved remarkably short-lived and growth soon returned to its previous high-octane pace. Since the beginning of 2009, China has experienced significant jumps in car ownership and home construction - along with worries about the creation of a housing bubble - among signs of returning prosperity. This, in turn, has generated a rising demand for oil, steel, copper, and other primary materials.

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