Headlines this morning announced that China’s state-run oil firm, the China National Offshore Oil Company, has bid US $18.5 billion for Unocal, the California-based energy company, topping Chevron’s bid.
Looks like someone is anticipating a large jump in the number of cars in China; after all, only 1.2 percent of Chinese citizens owned cars in 2000, according to this Wired article. It also notes that:
The booming Chinese auto market, which grew by 76 percent in 2003, is an obvious lure. It’s a market still under central control – for the moment, anyway – which means that if Beijing wants to go green, it can go in a huge way.
Guess they don’t want to. Or maybe they are bidding on Unocal to turn it into a 100% renewable energy company…
