China

For the first time in three years, Xi Jinping travels to Shanghai, a financial hotspot, while the Chinese economy falters.
30Nov mmBy Michael SmithNo Comments
China

For the first time in three years, Xi Jinping travels to Shanghai, a financial hotspot, while the Chinese economy falters.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has visited Shanghai for the first time in three years, as his government steps up efforts to prop up the country’s economy and financial markets. Xi made the trip on Tuesday and Wednesday and he visited the Shanghai Futures Exchange, a tech exhibition in the Zhangjiang High-tech Park, and a government-subsidised rental housing community, according to state-run Xinhua News Agency. He was accompanied by top government officials, including Vice Premier He Lifeng and Cai Qi, his chief of staff. The visit, his first since 2020, comes as business confidence wanes in China and foreign companies pull out of the country. The world’s second largest economy is stagnating after decades of rapid expansion. It’s beset with a series of problems, including a real estat...
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ETFs are booming in China as investors wait for stock market declines.
29Nov mmBy Walter ParezNo Comments
China, World

ETFs are booming in China as investors wait for stock market declines.

Chinese stock investors are ploughing money into exchange-traded funds (ETFs) this year at the fastest pace on record as they choose to play a languid stock market passively and wait for it to trough. The trend has also caught on as active fund managers in China struggle to make money and as Beijing uses ETFs to support stock markets and channel funding into strategic sectors such as technology and green energy. ETFs, which are funds that typically track an index, have garnered more than 400 billion yuan ($55.97 billion) this year in what would be record annual net inflows, according to mutual fund house China Asset Management Co (ChinaAMC), which has the biggest market share in the products. "When the market falls, many investors would use ETFs to bet on a bottom," said Xu Meng,...
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Geopolitics and climate finance: The US-China relationship
28Nov mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, USA

Geopolitics and climate finance: The US-China relationship

Climate action is caught in the increasingly volatile push-and-pull between cooperative global governance and great power competition, a fraught dynamic readily apparent in relations between China and the United States. China–US bilateral relations are widely acknowledged as a keystone for international efforts to address climate change. But the actions that both countries put forward to address climatic changes ‘indifferent to geopolitical rivalries’ are inevitably impacted by that very rivalry. There is, of course, optimism over the more constructive climate relations that the two have demonstrated since the resumption of formal China–US climate diplomacy this summer, after an 11-month halt following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August 2022. But the hiatus itself a...
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The disparity between India and China’s trade figures from January to October of this year increased to $15 billion.
27Nov mmBy Brian ThompsonNo Comments
China, World

The disparity between India and China’s trade figures from January to October of this year increased to $15 billion.

The magnitude of the discrepancy in the India-China official trade numbers as per data sets released separately by New Delhi and Beijing has widened further this year, amid rising instances of under-invoicing and potentially higher losses to the Indian exchequer despite efforts by tax authorities to plug loopholes. The disparity between official figures on exports to India released by China and the imports from China reported by India jumped over 20 percent to $15.47 billion during the first 10 months of 2023, as against $12.75 billion in the corresponding period last year. Under-invoicing of imported goods involves marking the stated value of imports below the actual value paid to the foreign exporter, thereby reducing the import tax outgo. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry in ...
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China must maintain and open financial channels for private companies.
27Nov mmBy Michael SmithNo Comments
China, World

China must maintain and open financial channels for private companies.

Top Chinese government departments led by the central bank said on Monday that measures needed to be stepped up to strengthen financial support for private companies, including unblocking and sustaining of funding channels. State agencies have in recent months unveiled a flurry of initiatives to support private businesses after authorities vowed to make the sector "bigger, better and stronger", in a bid to shore up an economic recovery. Private firms, which account for 60% of China's gross domestic product and 80% of urban jobs, were hurt by three years of COVID curbs and a regulatory crackdown that targeted sectors from technology to private tutoring. Efforts should be made to "unblock" financial channels such as loans, bonds and shares, said the People's Bank of China (PBOC) in...
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Property stocks plummet in China, leading the Asia market downturn, while service inflation in Japan increases.
27Nov By Online DeskNo Comments
China, World

Property stocks plummet in China, leading the Asia market downturn, while service inflation in Japan increases.

Asia-Pacific stocks fell on Monday as the Chinese market dropped due to a decline in property firms, while Japan’s service inflation surged to a 45-month high. Data showed Japan’s service PPI rose 2.3% in October to its highest level since January 2020 and more than the prior month’s reading of 2%. On Monday, China’s industrial profits continued to shrink in November, but at its slowest pace in almost a year, according to data released by the government. The world’s second largest economy will release its official factory activity figures for November on Thursday, while the Caixin survey for the same metric will be out on Friday. Australia will release its October inflation figures on Wednesday, which will offer clues to its central bank’s policy moves. India’s gross domestic ...
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China’s Growing Influence In British Universities Raises Concerns Over National Security And Acaemic Freedom
23Nov mmBy Michael SmithNo Comments
China

China’s Growing Influence In British Universities Raises Concerns Over National Security And Acaemic Freedom

In recent years, British universities have become recipients of substantial Chinese funding, a significant portion of which has been linked to the Chinese military, according to a recent report by the British think tank Civitas. The study, which surveyed 88 U.K. universities, revealed that 46 of them acknowledged receiving funding ranging from £122 million to £156 million from China since 2017. This funding encompasses research collaborations, one-off donations, and contributions from various Chinese entities. Disturbingly, 30% of this financial support has direct ties to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), raising serious concerns about national security and academic independence. The Civitas report sheds light on the alarming extent of Chinese military-linked funding infiltra...
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15Nov mmBy Michael SmithNo Comments
China, USA

Prior to a crucial U.S. conference with Xi, Biden claims that China has “real problems.”

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that China has "real problems," speaking at a fundraiser in San Francisco on the eve of an eagerly awaited meeting in the U.S. city between himself and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. The leaders of the world's two largest economies will huddle on the sidelines of the APEC summit in California for their first encounter in a year as trade tensions, sanctions and the question of Taiwan have fuelled quarrels between Washington and Beijing. Mr. Biden, who like Mr. Xi arrived in San Francisco on Tuesday, has characterised the meeting as a chance to right ties that have floundered in recent years. "President Xi is another example of how reestablishing American leadership in the world is taking hold. They've got real problems," he told a fun...
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8Nov mmBy Brian ThompsonNo Comments
China, World

What Causes the Economic Downturn in China?

The growth of the Chinese economy over the last four decades is one of the most globally transformative events of the last few centuries. Beginning in 1979, the country has radically transformed from an agrarian economy to one dominated by service and industry, and China stands today as the world’s top trading nation. Recently, however, this “growth miracle” has shown signs of weakening. Even before the country’s COVID shutdowns, growth had begun stalling amid demographic headwinds, an emerging slowdown in the real estate sector, and a re-emergence of state-led economic policymaking. The centralization of power has fed into a worsening relationship with China’s western partners that further threatens the country’s growth prospects. China's government began to play a larger role in pri...
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Pakistan continues to rely on CPEC despite sluggish implantation so far
6Nov mmBy Michael SmithNo Comments
China

Pakistan continues to rely on CPEC despite sluggish implantation so far

Pakistan has signed a slew of agreements with China, showing "blind faith" in Beijing, despite serious difficulties being faced by the China- Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). However, this is likely to remain on paper and rather can create more problems for the cash-strapped Pakistan as several CPEC projects are experiencing delays or being halted. Azeem Khalid, a Pakistan-China relations scholar at Islamabad-based COMSATS University, said the CPEC has failed to meet the expectations so far. "The overpromising and underdelivering have remained a crucial factor, coupled with inherent capacity issues, and instability on the political and security fronts," he said.1 "It is safe to assert that the hype surrounding CPEC was more a product of propaganda than a reflection of rea...
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