China has overtaken US as world's leading consumer Options

[tdultima]

China has overtaken US as world's leading consumer: think tank

1 hour, 26 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) - China has replaced the United States as the world's top consumer, eclipsing the world's richest economy in consumption of four of the five basic food, energy and industrial commodities, a global environmental think tank said.

Growing at a rapid rate, China has taken the lion's share in the consumption of grain, meat, coal and steel, and loses out to the United States only in oil among the five basic commodities, according to the Washington-based Earth Policy Institute.

In another key area, fertilizer, China's use is double that of the United States while among television sets, refrigerators and cellular phones the world's most populous nation is way ahead.

Among leading consumer products, China trails the United States only in automobiles, the institute said in a report.

It will only be a matter of time before China, the world's most populous nation, overtakes the United States in the use of personal computers.

The number of PCs in China are doubling every 28 months, the report said.

"China's eclipse of the United States as a consumer nation should be seen as another milestone along the path of its evolution as a world economic leader," Lester Brown, the institute's president, told reporters.

"China is no longer just a developing country," he said. "It is an emerging economic superpower, one that is writing economic history," said Brown, a respected environmental analyst.

Among the big three grains, China leads in the consumption of both wheat and rice, and trails the United States only in corn use.

China's 2004 intake of 64 million tonnes of meat has climbed far above the 38 million tonnes consumed in the United States, where the hamburger-eating habit is a defining element of the country's lifestyle.

China's steel usage -- a barometer of industrial development -- is now more than twice that of the United States: 258 million tonnes to 104 million tonnes in 2003.

Although US oil consumption is triple that of China's -- 20.4 million barrels per day to 6.5 million barrels in 2004, use in China has more than doubled, Brown said.

But Brown hastened to add that there was a downside to China's insatiable appetite for raw materials to fuel its unstoppable economy, saying it was driving up not only commodity prices but ocean shipping rates as well.

The Chinese consuming prowess also would deal yet another blow to the United States, which suffers a massive trade deficit with the Asian giant and is heavily dependent on Chinese capital to underwrite its fast-growing debt.

"If China ever decides to divert this capital surplus elsewhere, either to internal investment or to the development of oil, gas, and mineral resources elsewhere in the world, the US economy will be in trouble," Brown said

He warned that global dependence on the Chinese economy, with 1.3 billion people, for absorption of both raw materials and finished products could backfire if economic growth in China plunged.

"As Chinese incomes rise at a world record pace, use of foodstuffs, energy, raw materials, and sales of consumer goods are continuing to climb," he noted.

China's per capita annual income of 5,300 dollars last year is one seventh the 38,000 dollars in the United States.

Brown, who this month launched his groundbreaking book "Outgrowing the Earth: The Food Security Challenge in an Age of Falling Water Tables and Rising Temperatures," said one of the bigger concerns was that China's rapid growth took a toll on the environment.

For example, he said, China's grain production had fallen sharply, including due to expansion of deserts and the loss of irrigation water.

Brown said in his book that China was "putting enormous pressure on its own natural resource base.

"In the deteriorating relationship between the global economy and the earth's ecosystem, China is unfortunately on the cutting edge."


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/a...er_050216185807

[flipcombatmedic]

china is at least double the size of the US. at least they finally caught up after all this time.

[Chinese DesertFo...]

I'm not sure if this is good or bad news.

On one hand, it goes to show the increase of wealth and prosperity to the Chinese people.

On the other hand, it'll create a new generation of materalistic and shallow bastards akin to Americans now.

[Ken]

china is at least double the size of the US. at least they finally caught up after all this time.

The population of China is approximately 4 times that of the USA.

[MasteroD]

china is at least double the size of the US. at least they finally caught up after all this time.

No.

America is larger in land mass, because it has Alaska.

[UrbanPoet]

umm... Thats good.. but not great..
If they can surpass the Americans in stuff like CD's,computers, and useless stuff then that would show alot of economic might.. the Americans spend ALOT of money on useless things pumping all this money around in the capitalist/consumer driven economy. Those things that china surppasses them in seem liek bare neccessities.

[Onebrutaltruth]

[quote=Chinese DesertFox,Feb 24 2005, 04:28 AM]


ok u stinkies wait we,ll teach u there,s no such a thing as one china inner mongolia tibet taiwan must be happy what can make them happy Only independence can do it.once again there,s no one china stinkies


[quote=Onebrutaltruth,Feb 23 2005, 10:14 PM][quote=Yuje,Feb 24 2005, 02:29 AM][quote=Onebrutaltruth,Feb 23 2005, 02:40 PM]U DUMB U KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THE HISTORY ALL THAT U SAID IS JUST A BULL $hit .INNER MONGOLIAN PEOPLE SUFFERIN BECAUSE OF COMUNIST GOVERMENT THEY KILLED A LOT OF INNOCENT(INNER) MONGOLIAN PEOPLE
THEY WANT TO UNITE WITH THE OUTER MONGOLIAN,THEY NEVER WANTED TO BE PART OF COMUNIST CHINA.THEY,RE SUFFERIN THEY WANT TO REUNITE
ONCE BEIJING WAS JUST A SMALL STINKIN VILLAGE.MONGOLS HAVE CONQUERED CHINA AND MADE THAT AS A BIG CITY.
INNER MONGOLIAN PEOPLE ARE SUFFERIN UNDER COMUNIST CHINA
WHERE,S THE HUMAN RIGHT



[/quote]

If people in Inner Mongolia are suffering, why aren't we seeing tons and tons of refugees fleeing north? Why does Inner Mongolia have more people? Why didn't Inner Mongolia ever declare independence? Are you just going to answer me with bigger fonts and more exclamation marks?



[/quote]


I THINK CHINA WILL SOON FALL APART L;IKE DOG,S $hit AND BY THE WAY
ALL U STINKIES LISTEN UP ONCE AGAIN U DUMB ASSES KNOW NOTHING ALL U CAN DO IS ONLY BUBBLIN ALL TOGETHER IN YOUR fu-kIN LANGUAGE
IF INNER MONGOLIA WANT TO SEPERATE FROM CHINA,(THEY STILL WANT IT)WHAT U THINK UNDER THE COMUNIST REGIME IT,S FOR NOW IMPOSSIBLE
BUT IN THE FUTURE WHO KNOWS .
INNER MONGOLIAN PPL LIVE IN THEIR HOMELAND
WHAT FOR GOIN TO ANOTHER COUNTRY OR SOMEWHERE ELSE U DUMB THEY,RE LIVIN IN THEIR COUNTRY AND IN THEIR LAND.ONLY CHINESE MUST LEAVE INNER MONGOLIA.I KNOW ONE THING FOR SURE THAT DUMB CHINESE GOVERMENT HAVE KILLED A LOT OF INNOCENT INNER MONGOLIAN PPL FOR THAT,THAT THEY WANT TO BE SEPERATED.MANY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SUFFERED OF IT.AND THOSE WITNESSES ARE STILL ALIVE SOME OF THEM LIVIN IN AMERYCA OR EUROPE AND IN MY COUNTRY TOO(GERMANY).THAT,S WHY I KNOW THE FACT
DU ARSCH WEISS NICHTS
INNER MONGOLIAN PEOPLE MUST BE HAPPY WHAT CAN HELP TO MAKE THEM HAPPY ?INDEPENDENCE ONLY CAN DO IT .



[/quote]
i wonder how could China will fall apart...right now most people live in those areas are chinese......HAN CHINESE>.

MANY COUNTRIES LIKE AMERYCA JAPAN BRITAIN GERMANY FRANCE KOREA
CANADA EVEN RUSSIA WANTS (GEOPOLITICALLY) SEPERATED POOR SMASHED CHINA
EVERYBODY IN THIS WORLD WANTS AND THINKIN THAT CHINA MUST BE FALL INTO A BANCH OF PIECES (LIKE DOGS $hit)
IT DOESNT DEPEND ON WHAT CHINA WANTS AND TO BE
IT DEPENDS ON US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IF AMERYCA WANTS AND WE WANT IT CHINA MUST GO AND FOLLOW THE WAY THAT WE,RE SHOWIN U OK STINKIES
WHAT GOOD WILL CHINA DO? TOO MANY UN-USEFUL PEOPLE AND THROW ONE NUCLEAR BOMB THAT,S ALL THERE,S NO CHINA ANYMORE

DONT FORGET IT DEPENDS ON US
U STINKIES WAIT FOR THAT SOON WE WILL TEACH U