Society

“You know, my friends and relatives in the states still believe that the U.S. is the greatest place in the world,” explained an American in Melbourne, Australia. “They think the rest of the world is full of poor people who can’t wait to emigrate to the U.S. They need to get out more.”

So we get out. We open our eyes. We look around, and what do we see? We see a whole world full of people who are hustling and bustling, schlepping and trying to gain an advantage, each looking for a way to get richer, faster.

The motivations all over the world are about the same. People generally want wealth, power and status and they want to get it in the easiest possible way but it can mean different things to different people. They go about it differently too. In the mature economies, they look for subsidies and angles. Tax breaks. Bailouts. Boondoggles. Sinecures.

“We have plenty of corruption here in India, too,” a colleague noted. “But most people know they can’t get much from the government. They have no choice. They have to start a business or get a job.”

China Petrochemical Group (Sinopec), China's largest oil refiner, said Friday it has agreed to purchase US Occidental Petroleum Corp's Argentinean subsidiary for $2.45 billion.

Sinopec said in a statement Friday the acquisition includes all assets of Occidental Argentina.

Occidental Argentina has gross proven and probable reserves of 393 million barrels of oil equivalent and an interest in 23 production and exploration concessions in Argentina, 19 of which the company operates, said the statement.

Occidental Argentina's production from 22 producing concessions totaled more than 51,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day last year.

The purchase is Sinopec's first investment in the Argentina's oil and gas sector. The move, another step in Sinopec's internationalization, aims to secure Chinese oil supplies, according to the statement.

Is China’s burgeoning movie industry about to enter the age of video game-as-film concept a la “Laura Croft: Tomb Raider”?

That possibility has taken a distinct step forward with the announcement yesterday that Huayi Brothers Media Corporation, China’s leading film and TV production house, is joining forces with Chinese online game developer Giant Interactive Group Inc.

The companies are in the process of forming a joint venture, Beijing Huayi Giant Information Technology Co., Ltd, with the aim developing 3D online games, according to a statement posted on Giant Interactive’s website (in Chinese). The statement says Huayi Brothers will eventually invest 70 million yuan, or roughly $10.5 million, in the new company for a 51% stake.

The joint venture company is already developing new content for Giant’s 3D online role playing game King of Kings III and has plans to develop new 3D games based on Huayi’s films and TV dramas in the second half of 2011, the statement said.

China's automobile sales rose 26.9% in November from a year earlier, a Chinese industry group said, but growth is expected to slow sharply next year as the government phases out some incentives and considers measures to curb worsening traffic congestion.

Auto sales in November rose to 1.697 million vehicles, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Thursday, as consumers rushed to take advantage of purchase incentives before they expire at the end of the year. Total industry sales are on track to rise about 32% for the full year to 18 million vehicles, the semi-official association said.

But Xiong Chuanlin, vice secretary of the association, said growth will likely slow to about 10% in 2011, with auto sales totaling approximately 20 million vehicles. That echoes other recent predictions from industry executives.

Joe Hinrichs, head of Asian-Pacific and African operations for Ford Motor Co., said in November that he expects China's overall vehicle sales to total "a little bit shy of 18 million" vehicles this year, and that he expects sales to increase at a much slower rate of about 10% next year. In October, Kevin Wale, head of operations in China for General Motors Co., gave a slightly more conservative estimate, saying he expects auto sales in China to reach 19 million vehicles next year.