China discovers the world
The market power of Chinese companies is going to increase. This concerns both Chinese cement producers, who will be more strongly represented in growth markets, and plant engineering and construction firms, who are set to improve their market position.
1 Introduction
There are a number of interesting maps of the world. One of these is the Kangnido map dating from the year 1402, which shows the old world, stretching from Africa and Europe in the west to Japan in the east at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty. This map has given rise to many questions, one of the most interesting being: “How much did the Chinese Empire know about the New World at that time?” Is it possible that a grand fleet under Admiral Zheng He sailed there in 1421, long before the discovery of America by Columbus? This interesting hypothesis is presented in a book [1],...
