China's Silent Army

"The Pioneers, Traders, Fixers and Workers Who Are Remaking the World in Beijing's Image"

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chinas-Silent-Army-Pioneers-Remaking/dp/1846145392

From the preview in the weekend press focusing on Chinese involvement in oil-producing Sudan (where you can get MGs but is generally embargoed by the West and whose regime has often been decried), this not-uncritical book looks at the people behind China becoming the world's largest lender ahead of the World Bank.

They still have a long way to go to match what the British Empire achieved, but the guys with the money will always rule over the guys with large debts as long as there is free trade.

Windy wrote:They still have a long way to go to match what the British Empire achieved, but the guys with the money will always rule over the guys with large debts as long as there is free trade.

the City of London is where it is due to the shipping trade. Antwerp was once a world trade and finance centre but the river silted up.

Apparently there are lots of Chinese shops in Khartoum.

patpending wrote:the City of London is where it is due to the shipping trade. Antwerp was once a world trade and finance centre but the river silted up.

Apparently there are lots of Chinese shops in Khartoum.

I don't expect the Nile will silt up anytime soon, but I remember sailing out of Hamburg on a ship 1/4Km long and enjoying the superiority of looking down on every oil/gas tanker, container ship, tourist boat etc. in sight. Hours later I was enjoying the sunset while looking down on the vilages passing by along the banks of the river Elbe, next day I woke up to find myself in the North Sea.

Wouldn't it take weeks to navigate the length of the Nile from Khartoum, and while the Nile is a large river, there must be a limit to the size of ship?

I suspect they use a Chinese built railway to Port Sudan for cargo?