China doesn’t only want to be the world’s low-tech manufacturer, but also aims high at profitable businesses like oil-field services now. From Wall Street Journal:
China aims to become a global powerhouse in auto making, aerospace and other sophisticated industries. Its latest push: the lucrative business of providing equipment and know-how in the oil patch.
The oil-field-service industry provides everything from drilling rigs and metal tubes to software and engineering skills that are crucial to tapping new supplies. The industry has boomed since the price of oil began its three-year surge.
A handful of Chinese companies are already well-known in the services world. BGP Inc., a unit of oil producer China National Petroleum Corp., provides seismic technology, which is used to explore reserves. Other sectors, such as rig building, have existed since the 1930s but have taken off in the past few years. [Full Text]
