Reports

11.30.16

Made in China 2025

Jost Wübbeke, Mirjam Meissner, Max J. Zenglein, Jaqueline Ives, and Björn Conrad
Jost Wübbeke & Mirjam Meissner
Mercator Institute for China Studies
This report analyses China’s ambitious plan to build one of the world’s most advanced and competitive economies with the help of innovative manufacturing technologies (“smart manufacturing”). China’s industrial master plan “Made in China 2025” aims...

Animosity in a Burmese Hub Deepens as Chinese Get Richer

Jane Perlez
New York Times
Locals view Chinese as taking advantage of Mandalay’s location and resources. Chinese view locals as beneath them, slow at business and making money.

China is Poised to Benefit from Trump’s Ambiguous Africa Policy

Eric Olander and Cobus van Staden
Huffington Post
By neglecting to propose a clear approach toward the continent, the future U.S. president may end up boosting Beijing

How China’s Government Helps —and Hinders— Innovation

Anil Gupta and Haiyan Wang
Harvard Business Review
Given its ideological leanings, China presents itself as a unique experiment in the power of the state to help the economy become more innovative

U.S. Workers to Lose in China Trade War

Andrew Browne
Wall Street Journal
Some of Donald Trump’s strongest supporters would be hit if he makes good on tariff pledges

Trump, China’s Xi Set Tone of “Mutual Respect” in Phone Call

Te-ping Chen
Wall Street Journal
Mr. Trump’s campaign was marked by heated rhetoric targeting China, but in a phone call, the leaders agreed cooperation was key

As the Election Haze Clears, Trump’s China Conundrum Will Become Clear

Jonathan Fenby
Guardian
President Trump would be well advised to steer away from the rhetoric of Candidate Trump in dealing with the world’s second biggest economy

China Just Won the U.S. Election

James Palmer
Foreign Policy
China’s leaders are looking forward to a President Trump who offers less resistance and more hypocrisy. But Beijing's triumph may cost it in the end

Trump’s China Wall

Tim Culpan
Bloomberg
For all his rhetoric about building a wall along the Mexican border, Donald J. Trump may build an even bigger barrier against China

A Sea of Red Across Asian Markets as Trump Wins

Shotaro Tani
Nikkei Asian Review
Asian stock markets had a very bad day on Wednesday, plummeting across the board as U.S. voters swept Republican candidate Donald Trump to the White House

China Ousts Finance Minister Lou Jiwei as Xi Turns to Allies in Surprise Reshuffle

Lingling Wei and Jeremy Page
Wall Street Journal
Senior official was widely seen as a voice for reform of the country’s fiscal system

Malaysia’s Najib Risks Backlash at Home After Deals with China

Joseph Sipalan
Reuters
Malaysian Prime Minister is facing grumblings at home that he is "selling off" his country after returning from China with $34 billion worth of deals

China Slowdown Deepens Looming Pension Crisis

Mark Magnier
Wall Street Journal
Shortfall most threatens struggling industrial areas, where retirees’ hopes are dimming

On Duterte’s Heels, Malaysia is the Next Asian Country to Embrace China

Simon Denyer
Washington Post
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak called himself a “true friend” of China, determined to take their relationship to "new heights"

Germany Inc. Is Not for Sale to China, Berlin Says

Emily Tamkin
Foreign Policy
And Beijing has made clear that it has “great concern” over this turn of events

Russia Welcomes Growing Wave of “Red Tourists” from China

Amie Ferris-Rotman
Wall Street Journal
Nostalgia for Communist past as well as capitalist bargain-hunting draw more Chinese visitors

Seeking Lower Rent, Chinese Artists Cut Path for Themselves Outside Beijing

Emily Feng
New York Times
A small and decidedly nondescript city called Yanjiao, about an hour’s drive from Beijing, has been experiencing an influx of artists

China Tries to “Divide and Rule” Taiwan by Befriending Pro-Beijing Towns

J.R. Wu
Reuters
Taiwanese local officials, representing China-friendly Nationalist Party controlled counties, were promised greater tourism and agricultural ties

China’s Millennials Are Risk Takers—and They’re Dreaming Big

Bloomberg
Having grown up in a booming economy, China's 7.5 million school leavers this year are intent on forging paths very different from their parents

How One City in China is Trying to Avoid a Property Boom and Bust

Christian Shepherd
Financial Times
Chongqing mayor’s star rises thanks to scrutiny of real estate market

China’s Latest Debt Crackdown Just Delays More Serious Action

Anjani Trivedi
Wall Street Journal
China’s dilemma: how to manage a huge debt mound while maintaining loose monetary policy

Fake Divorce is Path to Riches Buying Hot China Real Estate

Bloomberg
Rising property prices have been inspiring desperate measures, as frenzied buyers are seeking to act before further regulatory curbs are imposed

Guess What India and China Need to Improve Relations? More Spies

Nicolas Groffman
South China Morning Post
Strange as it may sound, China and India need a basis in espionage to improve their relationship.

China’s Local Governments Are Getting Into Venture Capital

Lulu Yilun Chen and Edwina Chan
Bloomberg
China’s next billion-dollar startup could have backing from an investor with more money than Warren Buffett and a knack for promoting spicy duck-neck delicacies

In Push for G.M.O.s, China Battles Fears of 8-Legged Chickens

Amie Tsang and Cao Li
New York Times
China has ambitions to be a major player in genetically modified food, but first it needs to dispel images of poisoned seeds and contaminated fields

Economists Question China’s Consistent Growth Numbers

Mark Magnier
Wall Street Journal
China says its economy grew 6.7% for the third consecutive quarter

Crown’s Luck Runs Out as China Widens Casino Crackdown

Mike Cherney and Wayne Ma
Wall Street Journal
Foreign companies face inherent risks in attracting high-rollers from China, where gambling is illegal

As China Shifts From Exporter to Importer, Fortunes Change

Owen Guo and Neil Gough
New York Times
Daqing is home to China’s biggest oil field, and the city’s troubles reflect a broader reality for the country: Once a major exporter of oil, China is now one of the world’s biggest net oil importers.

Escaping China’s Parent Trap

Nisha Gopalan
Bloomberg
Think Chinese SOEs' have little incentive to stray beyond China? That's far from the case. Just look at Britain's utilities

Xi Jinping Reminds China’s State Companies of Who’s the Boss

Emily Feng
New York Times
In an unusual meeting that ended on Tuesday, President Xi Jinping announced that the Chinese Communist Party had the ultimate say over state companies

China Intensifies Push to Cut Debt With Multi-Agency Blitz

Bloomberg
IMF has flagged the potential threat from China's growing debt pile; State Council issues guidelines on swapping bad debt to equity

China Struggles to Curb Housing Bubble

Takumi Sasaki
Nikkei Asian Review
Even as Chinese authorities desperately try to cool down an overheated housing market, their efforts are unlikely to halt the rise of speculators greased by low borrowing costs

How Donald Trump Ditched U.S. Steel Workers in Favor of China

Kurt Eichenwald
Newsweek
Trump has been stiffing American steel workers on his own construction projects for years

Mixed Messages

Economist
A missed opportunity to improve the environment for foreign companies in China

589 Million Chinese Tourists Will Spend $72 Billion in Just 7 Days Celebrating “Golden Week”

Echo Huang Yinyin
Quartz
Unexpectedly, the new hot destination is Morocco

How China’s Progress is Killing the Instant Noodle

Adam Minter
Sydney Morning Herald
As China's economy has slowed, so too has its appetite for instant noodles

China Cities Move to Halt Housing Market Frenzy

Christian Shepherd
Financial Times
Speculators targeted as 15-month price surge persists

China’s Risk-Loving Mom & Pop Investors Abandon Local Stock Markets for Bitcoin

Zheping Huang and Joon Ian Wong
Quartz
China’s two biggest exchanges account for more than 90% of global trading.

China Spends More in the World than the World Spends in China

BBC
For the first time, Chinese companies have invested more abroad than foreign companies have invested in China

Alibaba Dethrones Baidu in China’s Digital Advertising Market

Uptin Saiidi
CNBC
Mobile ads are witnessing quick growth, but not everyone is in for a win this year.

Caixin Media

09.19.16

Chinese Spending Can Help Create Jobs in the United States

Trade does result in very real and serious job losses, while its benefits are spread more broadly over the entire U.S. economy. Yet many job losses are not a result of trade; they are actually driven by productivity gains related to rapid...

Conversation

09.01.16

What Can We Expect from China at the G20?

Sophie Richardson, Joanna Lewis & more
On September 4-5, heads of the world’s major economies will meet in the southeastern city of Hangzhou for the G20 summit. The meeting represents “the most significant gathering of world leaders in China’s history,” according to The New York Times...

Media

08.25.16

China Analysts Should Talk to Each Other, Not at Each Other

Scott Kennedy
On August 12, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued its annual report card on China’s economy and gave the country mixed grades, finding that its “economic transition will continue to be complex, challenging, and potentially bumpy.” In...

China's Hidden Unemployment Rate

Bloomberg
The jobless rate has trippled to 12.9 percent, compared with the official estimate of 4 percent, according to a new report by Fathom Consulting.

Viewpoint

05.26.16

China and the End of Reform

Thomas Kellogg
Is the Chinese Communist Party putting an end to the decades-long process of China’s opening to the outside world? Is the era of liberal reform over? Consider the latest piece of evidence: on April 28, the Standing Committee of the National People’s...

Warning Sign: China Sets Currency at 5-Year Low

Heather Long
CNN
Some believe that China's economic growth is actually 4.2% instead of the claimed 6.5%-7%.

China's 'Feud' over Economic Reform Reveals Depth of Xi Jinping's Secret State

Tom Phillips
Guardian
Speculation is rife that Xi wants to curb debt-fuelled growth before it destroys the economy and oust premier Li Keqiang.

Conversation

05.24.16

How Much Debt Is Too Much in China?

Yukon Huang, Houze Song & more
In the first quarter of 2016, Chinese debt rose to 237 percent of GDP—a level comparable to that of the U.S. or the Eurozone and yet much larger than that of most developing economies, according to analysis by The Financial Times. Additionally,...

Media

05.12.16

The End of China’s Economic Miracle? A Discussion with ‘Financial Times’ Writers

George Soros, Jamil Anderlini & more
On April 20, 2016, a panel of Financial Times correspondents and editors with China experience, joined by financier and occasional FT columnist George Soros, discussed rural-to-urban migration, wage growth, real estate ups and downs, the increasing...

China Wants to Become a ‘Soccer Superpower’ by 2050

Charlie Campbell
Time
It isn't just about sport. The strategy also has broad economic and political implications.

S&P Cuts China, Hong Kong Outlook to Negative

Katy Barnato
CNBC
It may lower China and Hong Kong's ratings from AA minus and AAA respectively in the next six months to two years.

China’s Banks Report Slowest Growth in 10 Years in 2015

Chuin-wei Yap
Wall Street Journal
Country’s ailing economy leading to more bad loans, pushing lenders toward riskier expansion strategies.

Continental Shift: How China is Changing Africa

Eric Olander, Cobus van Staden & more
For their new book, Continental Shift: A Journey into Africa’s 21st Century, South African authors Kevin Bloom and Richard Poplak embarked on a 14-country odyssey across two continents over a span of five years to report on Africa’s changing...

Viewpoint

03.24.16

Why China’s Economy Can’t Collapse

from Radio Free Asia
China’s economic outlook once again became the focus of attention for many last week. For one thing, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) listed the possibility of a hard landing for China’s economy as the topmost of the world’s top 10 risks. There...

Conversation

03.15.16

What’s Driving the Current Storm of Chinese Censorship?

David Schlesinger, Anne Henochowicz & more
The latest lightning flashes on China’s shifting media horizon this month took the form of the banishment from social media of a real estate tycoon who voiced support for constructive criticism, the firing of an editor at a newspaper that appeared...

As Economy Worsens, Chinese Migrants in Africa Confront New Challenges

Eric Olander, Cobus van Staden & more
Thousands of Chinese migrants who settled in Africa over the past 10 years now face mounting uncertainty as economic growth slows across the continent and back home in China. While there are no reliable estimates as to how many Chinese migrants...

Media

03.01.16

Why China Isn’t Hosting Syrian Refugees

The civil war in Syria, now spanning almost half a decade, and the Islamic State’s territorial advances there have led to the world’s worst refugee crisis in decades. More than 4.7 million Syrians have left their homeland, pouring into neighboring...

China’s Excess Production Has Intensified Slowdown, Business Group Says

Javier Hernandez
New York Times
The failure of Chinese leaders to tackle the problem of excess industrial production has intensified an economic slowdown.

Sinica Podcast

01.29.16

The China Meltdown

Jeremy Goldkorn, Kaiser Kuo & more from Sinica Podcast
[—Editors note: this podcast was recorded on January 18, 2016]With equity markets in free fall, housing prices skipping downwards, foreign reserves plummeting, and industrial production on a road trip back to the last decade, it’s no surprise...