I received this by email today and thought it was worth sharing.
China has 19% of the world’s population, but consumes
... 53% of the world's cement
... 48% of the world's iron ore
... 47% of the world's coal
... and the majority of just about every major commodity.
In 2010, China produced 11 times more steel than the United States.
New World Record: China made and sold 18 million vehicles in 2010.
There are more pigs in China than in the next 43 pork producing nations combined.
China currently has the world’s fastest train and the world’s largest high-speed rail network.
China is currently the number one producer in the world of wind and solar power.
China currently controls more than 90% of the total global supply of rare earth elements.
In the past 15 years, China has moved from 14th place to 2nd place in the world in published scientific research articles.
China now possesses the fastest supercomputer on the entire globe.
At the end of March 2011, China accumulated US$3.04 trillion in foreign currency reserves
- the largest stockpile on the entire globe.
Chinese consume 50,000 cigarettes every second …
Not an enviable record though …
Also a lot smarter than us, while they manufacture 80% of the worlds solar panels, they install less than 5%. They build a new coal fired power station every week and in 1 year turn on more new coal powered electricity than Australia's total output. Already the largest carbon dioxide emitter, output will rise 70% by 2020. Glad we're saving the planet?
