GMail Blocked In China
 

Looks like you all knew this but it hasn't caught fire in here..... yet its a huge, big deal. China is by many metrics now the most important economy in the world. This is obviously going to force a lot of people to switch away from Gmail - those who need to connect with China. A lot of my friends over there use Gmail and they'll have to switch.

I don't exactly blame China for this though - in light of Hong Kong this year and the upcoming 25th anniversary of Tianamen Square. The fact is that China's economy is kind of self contained now, they almost have everything they need within their own borders.

Gmail blocked in China | Reuters

Pretty much. Not enough to go around for everyone everytime (like what country does eh?), but its there.

I've never heard the expression "china is the most important economy in the world". WHere would I learn more about that?

It's pretty close to what I said above in my opening post. China is like a large % of global GDP but it matters a lot in a whole host of other ways. It is the factory of the world and is the largest consumer of industrial commodities amongst many other things.

You could search economics sites, read Bloomberg and so on... China stories pretty much dominate.

Cold war, it's not over yet

Go China!

that's where I got the expression from, from waht you said above. googling it came up with nada, so I asked.

it doesn't seem to me that china wants to be a self-contained economy, reading that article it appears quite a few chinese businesses rely on gmail.

I'm current on china.

I understand it's one of the world's powerful economies.


You mentioned specifically that it's THE most important, a phrase I've never heard mentioned, thus my inquiry to learn more about it.

The comment on that article from Five Mao was pretty on spot with a couple interesting facts:

"Very true..but they ban foreign companies only after stealing their technology then proceed to produce fakes, crap ones at that. Fake BMW, fake Mercedes, fake electronics, fake clothing, fake money, fake people who have a tendency to acquire fake airs and graces. The list goes on. Last year, Bank of China gold which was sold to the public, eventually got green mould. Take a guess. Got it! It was fake gold. Issued by the state bank.

Oh watch out for that green tea you think is so good for you. Another guess? Yup! Fake tea. Its coloured paper. No, unfortunately this is not a joke although I wish it were."

Well, I said: "China is by many metrics now the most important economy in the world." It's not largest by GDP but its cracking all sorts of records and it has been driving global growth last few years with very low debt so (in some ways) it is the most important.

Largest economy by PPP (Purchasing Power Parity):

China’s leap forward: overtaking the US as world’s biggest economy | FT Data

It’s official: America is now No. 2 - MarketWatch

Fastest Growing Economy (last few yrs):

China May Be Slowing, But Still Fastest Growing Economy On Earth - Forbes

Largest Mobile Phone Market (By Revenue):

China Will Overtake United States as World's Largest Mobile Phone Market by REVENUE in 2014

Largest Automobile Market (By Revenue):

China Extends Lead As World?s Largest Car Market By Sales; GM, Ford China Deliveries Up By Double Digits

Largest Market In Luxury Goods Sales:

http://www.bain.com/publications/art...ring-2014.aspx

Largest Consumer of Gold:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB100014...89261432501856

Largest Foreign Currency Reserves:

http://dailysignal.com/2014/06/20/ch...lion-counting/

Largest Energy Consumer:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_consumption

Largest and Fastest Growing Consumer of Commodities:

http://dailyreckoning.com/commodities/

Largest Manufacturing Economy:

http://news.thomasnet.com/imt/2013/0...t-manufacturer

Many of China's company's are largest in their class, Like Huawei and Xiaomi is headed in that direction.

China has around 4 trillion FCR and no other creditor nation has even 1 trillion (a quarter of that). There are just tens and tens of metrics and records that China is reaching the top and I've missed many of them but here's a basic easy test you can do:

Lift objects in your bedroom and if you see "Made In China" it points to China's manufacturing prowess - many western goods are made in China. It is impossible to avoid contributing to China's growth because most of our stuff is made there. Most walmart sells us China made goods and iPhones used to be made there (I think still are).

as a german i am upset they passed us as largest export nation - was just a matter of time though

but most german car manufacturers - mainly Volkswagen with VW/Audi/Skoda/Porsche - nowadays concentrate their growth on the chinese market

I look under my coffee mug, Made in China

I look at my shoe horn, Made in China

I look at my fine China, Made in England

Don't worry, we all know German cars are by far the best... :thumbsup

I though Skoda was Czech :)

ahhh - it's you again

they are a 100% Volkswagen daughter though - but i am sure you knew that :winkwink:

its starting all over again.

Congrats to us, in return for cheap TV's, clothing and every other product that is manufactured we gave a fascist country that has enslaved 1.375 Billion people our technology, our money, our land, our debt transforming them into a global economic and military superpower.

Things should turn out well for us. :helpme

Hmmm - just looked it up, I thought we owed them a lot more money than we actually do, our debt to China is 1.3 trillion. I wonder what happens when things go bad and they want their money back.

I'm pretty sure mankind only has about 100 years left on this planet.

That's not even remotely accurate.... have you ever been to China?

So because China fast gaining on the US, the world is ending? :1orglaugh

It's almost baked in the cake that China will overtake the US in GDP, probably within the next 15 years at current rates but average salaries (GDP Per Capita) will, absent some sort of crisis, take decades to equal the US so will actual total personal wealth take even much longer to catch up.

For around 150 years UK was the superpower and the world reserve currency was UK Pound. Around 1920 onwards, the US started to take over from there. Now it's China that's accelerating big time and the next century belongs to China. That said, the US is not going away anytime soon - it will always be one of the largest and most powerful country/economy in the world and probably not fall out of the top 3 in your lifetime.

i hope someday to bounce heavy chinese bosom.

:2 cents:

i can't find a single link via google that mentions anything about china being the most important economy in the world. in fact, the USA is still considered the most POWERFUL economy on the planet, according to expert economists.

I won't bother getting into the china self-contained economy misstatement.

I genuinely thought that Skodas are being made (what is the point for VW to buy them and move manufactoring to more expensive Germany) in CZ, hence not adding to German export number, but rather adding to CZ export numbers.

Of course they are made in CZ (and China), they just belong 100% to Volkswagen. Like Seat, Bugatti, Ducati and a few more.

This is nothing new. They periodically block google annd gmail also. Pretty much everyone in China is skilled with the use of vpns there are many free ones there.

But no much point of choosing gmail instead of any other email provider? I mean it is stil huge inconvenience compared to free access.

What about yahoo mail? outlook mail? etc?

I do not think they use yahoo or outlook..i don't know any that do anyway.
they also have their own stuff....free emails....their own google...baidu..etc

their own facebook..etc etc

I lol'ed.

china is country with high filtering, when they want to stop people talk about something they just shut it down

Amin brotha :winkwink:

Chinese people for the most part don't give 2 shits about using western services. From the Gov perspective, anything outside China that is a threat to profit margins is blocked or slowed to a fucking crawl, end off.

For email they use QQ or 163.com. Search they use Baidu. Social media they use Weixin (Wechat) or Weibo. Videos they use Youku or Tudou. Shopping they use Taobao or JD.com. Taxis they block Uber and support local Didi Dache.

China blocks international sites because they want locals to use domestic state owned/run/backed products. Pretty simple really and these day's nothing to do with communism.

hope they dont ban all incoming mails from @gmail.com

I've lived in China for the last 7 years, this is not news at all. Gmail has actually been blocked here for at least 2-3 years. They just kinda more officially blocked it recently. Everyone still uses gmail with a vpn.

I will be back next week :)

It sounds like you're having a problem facing facts.

As I re-iterated, I said: "China is by many metrics now the most important economy in the world" ie by many metrics but not all. For example, it is the most important economy in the world for industrial commodities - why? Because they consume the most. Is it the most important economy for the global automotive industry. Why? Because the largest market is in China and so on.

Hamish McRae: By some calculations, China is already the most important economy in the world - Hamish McRae - Business Comment - The Independent

Jim O'Neill: China Will Contribute More To Global Growth This Decade Than The US And Europe Combined - Business Insider

China is the most important economy not US | MARC FABER BLOG

He didn't say it's the most important. He said that it is by many metrics. Ergo not all, thus obviously not making it the most important economy in the world overall. But you can use the same argument for say Brazil, Russia, Germany and more. It all depends on what metrics you choose to look at.

wanting or should i say forcing people to use STATE OWNED products would appear to have a lot to do with communism. or controlism.

It's neither communism nor controlism but it might be regarded as a form of protectionism - it depends on the reason why it is being employed.

However, its worth noting that many countries use methods which could be considered similar even in the USA. In a sense, FATCA (Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act) makes it difficult for Americans to go with non-US banks. The UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) forces Americans to use land based casinos for their gaming needs. The list goes on and on.....

Most smart people know this about China...and also know it's not sustainable. It's a country trying to be something it can't be, and it'll catch up with them.

whoooa they dont like PRISM and prefer their own spying methods ? how dare they :1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

Exactly. Well they don't like TEMPORA either.... I remember QQ having a nice little struggle with GCHQ in recent times but i'll keep that one to myself lest they decide im disposable :winkwink:

The smart people that know about China are generally those that have been to China. :2 cents: