At an Australian house auction, it does not take long for the numbers to reach and then pass seven figures. Edwin Montoya does not know this yet, but he is just about to experience this bizarrely compelling phenomenon first hand. Part business transaction, part theatre, an auction is where the strong stick to their budgets and the weak succumb to their underfunded impulses. Edwin has his eye on a neat, architect-designed bungalow in Sydney's Western suburbs and decides it is the one for him. So, in the back garden with its parquet flooring-styled pavements, he joins battle with four other suitors for this comfortable, but less-than-grand, dwelling.

Is China capable of producing more than inexpensive manufactured goods? The answer, increasingly, is 'yes.' In 2011, China's exports consist of more than consumer products like toys, shoes and clothing - the Middle Kingdom is exporting world-class technology through a new breed of multinational companies. Regardless of whether it is Haier in the consumer goods area, Huawei in the technology space, or Mindray in the healthcare sector - Chinese companies are making a growing name for themselves in developed markets like Europe and the United States. Due to comparatively low labour costs and their increasing technological prowess, these firms are willing to offer lower prices for high quality goods and services.

Editor's note: Leroy Chiao served as a NASA astronaut from 1990 to 2005 and flew four missions into space, including flights aboard the space shuttles Columbia, Endeavour and Discovery. (CNN) -- On August 24, the launch of Progress 44P -- an unmanned Russian space freighter -- failed after the third stage of the Soyuz rocket carrying it suffered an as-yet-unknown problem. Pieces of the failed launch were recovered some 40 miles north of the Chinese-Siberian border in a wooded area.