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Posted on 02/25/2008 11:08:08 AM PST by outfield
BEIJING -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc., a major buyer of Chinese-made shoes, toys and other goods, expects procurement in China to hold steady this year at about $9 billion despite a rising exchange rate and product safety concerns, the retailing giant's vice chairman Michael Duke said Monday.
"I wouldn't see any major variation" in procurement from the 2007 total of $9 billion, Duke told reporters. "China will continue to be a major production portion of direct purchases by Wal-Mart for a long time."
Duke said relations with the communist government are good despite a high-profile campaign to form unions at Wal-Mart stores and complaints by foreign business groups that Beijing is trying to support Chinese companies by hampering foreign investment in some industries.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I would love to visit China, but alas it is not in the budget, by any stretch of the imagination, for me at any time in the near or even foreseeable future. I will just have to rely on your stories to experience it by osmosis!!!!
Of course if you're part of their Rice Bowl, then they'll be gracious and friendly.
Long Term out look?
They consider us barbarians and China the center of the universe.
Do you hold the same disdain for Germany, Israel, and Japan, all of whom also committed - and most likely continue to commit - industrial espionage?
They consider us barbarians and China the center of the universe.
And this is based on?
Oh, and Noshir Gowadia (note spelling)? He’s an Indian by birth, naturalized American. And is accused of selling B2 secrets to not just China, but Germany, Israel and Switzerland. So I assume you want to sever all ties with those countries as well... I mean, what does oh-so-famously-neutral Switzerland need military secrets for?
Selective vision at its best...
Long story, I'll just hit the high points. On my last trip to the UK, flying out of LAX, this gorgeous stewardess (UnPC term for cabin staff) ax'ed me really nice if I'd like a free upgrade to First Class.
Moi of partial Scot heritage would never separate with the cash for First Class, (I work to keep my backside suitable for cheap seats) said "Okay!". Within minutes, I found myself seated next to the one of the Chinese Princelings (his father holds a position as a regional director of industrial area) Not exactly sure of "what" his daddy did, but high enough in the Communist government to be flying with a posse of 3 underlings. All of whom were terrified of this individual.
Within an hour of take off, the lad was sh&tfaced and proceeded to lay out every injustice the "Westerner - White Barbarians" has ever done to the Middle Kingdom. From the Opium Wars to treaties China was forced to sign after the Boxer Rebellion. (After a while, I began to regret accepting that foxy stewardess's kind offer :^(
) This gentleman laid it all out, China would be justified cleansing the world of everyone but Chinese.
And yes, they do think five generations ahead.
( off topic), I noticed W-M has Girl Scouts selling cookies in front of their local store. It's my practice not to bash Wally's when the Salvation Army or Scouts are doing fund raising on their property.
He's spinning like a gyroscope in his grave, according to those who worked at WM in the Sam Walton days. Nowadays, it's the bottom-line-is-God-screw-the-customer MBAs who are running the show.
Screw the customer? I waited 15 minutes at their paint department, along with two pages for "customer assistance". Finally had to physically grab a kid in the Garden Center to get the keys to open the spray paint locker. I heard customers say,"To Hell with this, I'm going to Ace" more than once. They've cut their staff below a skeleton force to save on wages. Then push the stockers to "show a sense of urgency" when restocking shelves.
[Sidebar]Go into the back of the store, near the rest rooms. There's usually a wall with recall notices posted. Right now at my local WM there are TWENTY-FOUR. Everything from "part make break and cause choking" to "SEVERE BURNS MAY OCCUR" on a kid's make-believe kitchen stove. Add in the unsafe/shoddy quality control on their over-the-counter meds ("Equate" brand) and you get a feel for that bottom-line-is-everything quote.
$9 Billion? out of $264 Billion Cost of revenue? But that would mean the anti-walmart America-firsters are acting hysterical over nothing. Surely such paragons of sanity and knowledge couldn’t be wrong, could they?
“...and that makes me wonder whether I should be supporting Wal-Mart.”
Quit “thinking” with your “feeeeeeelings.”
Read the d@mn labels on the products you buy. Wal-Mart has 61,000 AMERICAN manufacturers as well.
If you’d like, I will gladly give you my Standard Wal-Mart Shopping List. I shop there every two weeks. EVERY SINGLE THING I buy there is MADE IN AMERICA.
I will give you credit for thinking this through, but don’t sip from the Anti-Wal-Mart Kool Aid Fountain, LOL!
eftist Kool Aid.
Obviously, I made a typing error while I was being pithy. *SMIRK*
But, still! Get the FACTS Wo/Man. Knock it off with the PC-Lefty Guilt over Wal-Mart. It’s alright to shop there. Really. It is.
“Nowadays, it’s the bottom-line-is-God-screw-the-customer MBAs who are running the show. “
WalMart is a reflection of America. There are many freepers who will tell you they embrace that, and are unashamed. In fact, they will ridicule anyone who believes anything contrary to that.
“Walmarts stuff is infested with parasites, that is true.”
NEVER buy dry dogfood from Walmart. Iams brand full of adult weavils when purchased.
Not only that but paying five times the price will likely get you a slightly better grade of CHINESE product! They apparently think you should pay a 300% just for the EXPERIENCE of shopping there.
They’re close are infested with microscopic nematodes, please do not buy your clothing there.
If you only think 0.4% of items in WM are from China you need to go to a WM store.
1. On WM site several years back they said they were buying 16 or 17 million per year from China directly. Why now only 9 million?
2. roughly half of that 265 billion of cost of goods is food-food that is bought from mostly America.Subtract that from your figures.
3.That 16 million in items directly bought from China (you say 9 million). GE is an American company that has stuff made in China. When WM buys from GE that is not buying directly from China even though the majority of GE items in WM are made in China. Different category. WM is very sly in their facts. Not lying just twist sentances.
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