Asia

Last month, the US-led group – the Minerals Security Partnership – met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York to discuss priorities, challenges and opportunities in responsible mining and processing of critical minerals. The partnership, which was started in June in Canada, brings together the US, Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Sweden, Britain and the European Commission. Attending the meeting in New York were five of Africa’s mineral-rich countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania and Zambia. The initiative promises to help African nations with funding and information to improve the domestic processing of critical minerals. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the meeting that the US...

It is widely anticipated that the Chinese President Xi Jinping, during his speech in the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) would claim that Chinese economy has not only weathered the western sanctions but also the Covid-19 pandemic and successfully managed a reasonable growth. However, unlike the previous congress, this time around he has little to flaunt on the front of economy. In the first half of the year, China recorded only 2.5% growth over the past year, one of the lowest in three decades. Retail sales were 0.7% less in the first half than previous year after plunging 11% in April. The Chinese economy is facing a severe downward pressure and a plethora of problems which do not appear to be surmountable in near and short terms. Some observers opine that...

Beijing, China: Federico Giuliani writing for Inside Over said, “China has been accused of digging holes for others with the “One Belt, One Road” initiative, only to fall into it but the country denies the criticism while refusing to admit its loan losses.” China’s Belt and Road initiative -“One Belt One Road” project is in deep trouble after big losses with many loans to emerging economies falling into repayment troubles due to financial distress and a slowing economy. However, a report from Wall Street Journal stated that after nearly a decade of pressing Chinese banks to be generous with loans, “Chinese policymakers are discussing a more conservative program, dubbed Belt and Road 2.0 in internal discussions, that would more rigorously evaluate new projects for financing,” the ...

Away from the debate on Xi Jinping getting a third term - as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and president of the country – in violation of the convention set after the Mao era; China’s economy is in bad shape.  Much of it was expected as the global economy, which buys Chinese products, has been slowing down. China could barely avoid a contraction in the June 2022 quarter. However, it was not expected that Beijing would fail to live up to its promises by such a wide margin.  In its latest report, the World Bank projected China to grow by a mere 2.8% in 2022, that’s half of the 5.5% growth promised by Beijing. Moreover, for the first time in three decades, China’s growth would lag behind the rest of the Asia-Pacific region. A 24-country estimate by...

For more than two decades, China emerged as the key player in global supply chains as American, European, Japanese, and Korean companies descended in hordes in the East Asian country to set up their manufacturing bases and earn profits by selling their products to the world. By 2022, signs of multinational companies’ declining business trust in the Chinese market are becoming glaring as a large number of them are moving out of China with no promise of coming back to the country in the foreseeable future. Google’s translation app has joined the list of American tech companies exiting the Chinese market in the recent past. It had to do so because of a tougher regulatory mechanism and strict internet censorship regime which created hurdles in the smooth operation of the US-based company. ...

The Chinese government claims cyber sovereignty, or control, over all its digital assets,including servers, user data, technological infrastructure, and IT companies operatingthere both domestically and internationally.As a result, the Chinese government has access to resources like Apple's China-basediCloud data. China's 2017 Cybersecurity Law mandates businesses that provideessential information infrastructure in China (broadly defined) to keep their data onChinese government-run servers. About crimes against China's national securitycommitted outside of Hong Kong, especially those involving data protection, the 2020Hong Kong National Security Law extends that oversight outside of China.Finally, China's Data Security Law of 2021 gives the Chinese government the authorityto inspect forei...

A Chinese businesswoman known in Ghana as “the queen of illegal gold mining” will remain behind bars in the capital Accra until next month when she and three co-accused will face court again. An Accra Circuit Court on Tuesday dismissed a bail application by lawyers for En Huang, also known as Aisha Huang, and three other Chinese nationals accused of mining, selling and buying minerals without a licence. All four have denied the charges. Arguing against bail, prosecutors said the accused might interfere with investigations and pose a flight risk. The court ordered Huang and her co-accused to remain in police custody until October 12 when they will again appear. The case is being closely watched in the West African nation, where Chinese players have revolutionised small-scal...

The World Bank has joined a growing list of agencies and private sector forecasters downgrading their expectations of China’s growth rate this year. For the first time in more than 30 years China is expected to grow at a lower rate than the other economies in East Asia. The World Bank this week lowered its forecast for China’s GDP growth from the 5 per cent it forecast in April to 2.8 per cent. Earlier this month the Asian Development Bank cut its forecast from 5 per cent in April to 3.3 per cent. The International Monetary Fund’s July forecast was for a similar 3.3 per cent growth rate, but there has been evidence of further slowing in China’s economy since then. Even though Chinese president Xi Jinping has pledged to meet economic targets, economists are sceptical that the Chin...

The fall of the yuan despite best efforts of the People’s Bank of China speaks volumes of the kind of economic stability the Chinese Communist Party boasts of. Coming as it does in the run-up to the 20th Party Congress, it is not something President Xi Jinping would like as he prepares to get a third term of power. Worse, the situation is also embarrassing because China always associates a strong yuan as evidence of its economic power being comparable to that of rival United States. The yuan fell to 7.2301 to the dollar, its lowest level since January 2008. One yuan was worth about 13.8 cents, down 15% from this year’s March high, Associated Press said. The media paints a grim picture for the coming future: “What’s likely to be worse is the dismal picture for China’s economy next ye...

On its journey towards progress, a developing country requires support of its international peers in the form of capital, industrial goods and technology. Various African countries going though the development phase have to rely on the support of their more developed counterparts for finance, technical knowhow and sophisticated products. In present times, many of them are heavily sourcing from China to augment their defense, economy, infrastructure and delivery of public services. However, in many cases the immense trust placed by these countries is not reciprocated by Beijing in the same spirit. Kenya is one such country which is facing serious problems on this count. During the last few years, it has established significant trade ties with China by actively sourcing from it to fulfil...