Seven reasons China will surprise us in 2009

China is emerging as a lead player in the global economy, but what will 2009 hold for the nation hosting one-sixth of the world’s population? Here are some predictions, courtesy of McKinsey Quarterly.

1. China announces that by 2020, half of the cars in the country will be electric. It invests tens of billions of dollars in R&D toward achieving that goal.

2. The Chinese Government buys a 50-year lease on an entire geographic region of Mexico, enabling Chinese companies to build factories there to supply the North American market more easily.

3. A major office block collapses in Chaoyang, Beijing’s central business district.

4. A leading Chinese company tries to buy an iconic US technology firm (or two).

5. A restructuring of China’s telecommunications industry turns into a complete consolidation.

6. The English Premier League football association buys its Chinese counterpart, the Chinese Super League.

7. Warming cross-strait relationships lead to a merger between the mainland’s Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Taiwan’s Chinatrust Commercial Bank.