The Rise of China’s Auto Industry and Its Impact on the U.S. Motor Vehicle Industry

[Excerpt] The automobile industry, a key sector in China’s industrialization and modernization efforts, has been developing rapidly since the 1990s. In recent years, China has become the world’s fastest growing automotive producer. Annual vehicle output has increased from less than 2 million vehicles in the late 1990s to 9.5 million in 2008. In terms of production volume in 2008, China has surpassed Korea, France, Germany, and the United States, trailing only Japan. A disproportionate share of China’s output was heavy vehicles in the 1990s. However, since 2000 China’s growth has been led by an increase in passenger cars, which now account for more than 65% of its vehicle production. China’s automobile industry has continued to expand despite the global economic downturn. From January to October 2009, more than 10 million vehicles were sold in China. If such growth continues, China is on its way to becoming world’s largest auto market. Unlike Korea or Japan, China’s automotive industry has developed extensively through foreign direct investment. This investment has come in the form of alliances and joint ventures between international automobile manufacturers and Chinese partners. The international automobile manufacturers are unlikely to promote Chinese exports that compete with their own products in other markets. As a consequence, the Chinese companies that have expressed a strong interest in exporting cars have not had strong ties to foreign car producers and that, consequently, may struggle to meet safety and emission standards in industrialized countries. However, if independent producers, such as Geely, can achieve much higher standards, they could prove to be a strong international competitor. Ford’s proposed sale of Volvo to Geely may help the Chinese company improve its products. China exports and imports few motor vehicles. Exports are growing much more rapidly than imports and are mostly light trucks and passenger cars shipped to developing country markets. By contrast, Chinese auto parts exports are already making inroads into the United States and other developed markets. While U.S. motor vehicle trade with China was insignificant in 2008, the United States imported more than $5.5 billion in parts from China, while it exported about one- eighth of that amount. Many of these imports are aimed at the aftermarket, as most of what China now exports to the U.S. market are standard products such as brake parts, electrical and electronic parts, and seating and interior trim. But with high rates of investment and strong growth in China by the leading U.S. manufacturers of both cars and parts, major motor vehicle companies are likely to increase sourcing from China. There have been a significant number of trade disputes with China ranging from implementation of obligations that were made when China joined the WTO, China’s exchange rate policy, lax trade law enforcement, and alleged subsidies to industrial producers. With a bilateral U.S. trade deficit that rose to more than$268 billion in 2008, representatives of the Obama administration, as well as many Members of Congress, would like to achieve more balance in U.S.-China trade relations

China’s Steel Industry and Its Impact on the United States: Issues for Congress

[Excerpt] The rise of China’s steel sector, along with other manufacturing industries, presents issues beyond trade law enforcement. China’s quest for industrial raw materials is having considerable effect on global demand and supply, and as a result, the prices and availability of such inputs. China’s restrictions on exports of some raw materials, allegedly, lower the cost of such raw materials in the home economy, while increasing global prices of these products (or diminishing global supply), thereby producing an unfair advantage in some manufacturing industries. Amid the rising trade cases against various Chinese steel imports, Congress became increasingly concerned over alleged unfair trade competition from China. In August 2010, legislative measures were introduced in the Senate (S. 3725), while a set of measures focusing on illegal import practices were proposed by the U.S. Commerce Department, both aiming to continue the rigorous and more effective enforcement of U.S. trade laws. This report provides an overview of China’s steel industry and discusses the issues and implications with regard to the U.S. steel sector

Junior Recital: Rachel Stein, soprano

This recital is presented in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree Bachelor of Music in Performance. Ms. Stein studies voice with Eileen Moremen.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1134/thumbnail.jp

Newton Polygons of Cyclic Covers of the Projective Line Branched at Three Points

We review the Shimura–Taniyama method for computing the Newton polygon of an abelian variety with complex multiplication. We apply this method to cyclic covers of the projective line branched at three points. As an application, we produce multiple new examples of Newton polygons that occur for Jacobians of smooth curves in characteristic p. Under certain congruence conditions on p, these include: the supersingular Newton polygon for each genus g with 4 ≤ g ≤ 11; nine non-supersingular Newton polygons with p-rank 0 with 4 ≤ g ≤ 11; and, for all g ≥ 5, the Newton polygon with p-rank g − 5 having slopes 1∕5 and 4∕5

Essential Air Service: Frequently Asked Questions

This report provides an overview of the Essential Air Service (EAS) program and the legislative issues surrounding it

Newton Polygons of Cyclic Covers of the Projective Line Branched at Three Points

We review the Shimura–Taniyama method for computing the Newton polygon of an abelian variety with complex multiplication. We apply this method to cyclic covers of the projective line branched at three points. As an application, we produce multiple new examples of Newton polygons that occur for Jacobians of smooth curves in characteristic p. Under certain congruence conditions on p, these include: the supersingular Newton polygon for each genus g with 4 ≤ g ≤ 11; nine non-supersingular Newton polygons with p-rank 0 with 4 ≤ g ≤ 11; and, for all g ≥ 5, the Newton polygon with p-rank g − 5 having slopes 1∕5 and 4∕5

Newton polygons of cyclic covers of the projective line branched at three points

We review the Shimura-Taniyama method for computing the Newton polygon of an abelian variety with complex multiplication. We apply this method to cyclic covers of the projective line branched at three points. As an application, we produce multiple new examples of Newton polygons that occur for Jacobians of smooth curves in characteristic $p$. Under certain congruence conditions on $p$, these include: the supersingular Newton polygon for each genus $g$ with $4 \leq g \leq 11$; nine non-supersingular Newton polygons with $p$-rank $0$ with $4 \leq g \leq 11$; and, for all $g \geq 5$, the Newton polygon with $p$-rank $g-5$ having slopes $1/5$ and $4/5$.Comment: to appear in Research Directions in Number Theory, Women in Numbers IV. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1805.0691

Achieving SDG related sexual and reproductive health targets in China: what are appropriate indicators and how we interpret them?

Background: Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) targets have been included as part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and thus indictors are important to monitor the progress towards these targets. SRH indicators are recommended for setting norms and measuring progress at global level. However, given the diverse political, socioeconomic and cultural contexts in different countries, and lack of global agreement on broad indicators, it is important to select appropriate indicators for specific countries. Based on internationally recommended indicators and data availability in China, this paper selected four indictors to reflect SRH in China and interpreted these indictors by analyzing the underlying factors. Methods: we employed secondary data analysis and key informant interview. The major secondary data were obtained from the China Health Statistical Year Book (2005-2017), China Statistical Year Book (2005-2017), and the sub-national estimates of the Global Burden Diseases Study 2016. We also interviewed 36 key informants at national and sub-national levels. Results: the four selected SRH indicators are contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR), adolescent birth rate, abortion rate, and availability of school sex education. CPR of married women has remained above 75% over the last three decades, indicating a high level of access to family planning (FP) services; however, unmarried but sexually active women have significant unmet needs for FP services. Although adolescent birth rates in China remain low, the abortion rate, abortion numbers, and the ratio of abortions to births increased from 2014-2016 while FP policy was relaxed in China. This suggests that abortion among unmarried women is a significant contributor to the overall figures. Qualitative analysis of the availability of school sex education reveals a situation of policy absence and the conservative attitude of key stakeholders. Conclusion: Since SRH challenges vary significantly between socio-economic, political and cultural contexts, indicators for measuring progress towards SRH targets of SDGs should be selected based on country context. The CPR and abortion rate are currently available and important indicators to monitor the most basic part of SRH in China, but require modification to ensure they can reflect universal access to quality reproductive healthcare by all reproductive age women, regardless their marriage status. Indicators on sex education need to be carefully developed to fit the context in China