ChinaFile Recommends
10.03.17The Curious Career Paths of China’s Public-Sector Bosses
Financial Times
The official heroes of China’s state-sector reform program range from dedicated anti-graft investigators, who have purged dozens of allegedly corrupt executives over recent years, to strategically minded administrators determined to create a stable...
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10.03.17Exclusive: One Ford, Two Systems - U.S. Carmaker Revamps China Strategy amid EV Push
Reuters
U.S. automaker Ford Motor Co (F.N) is overhauling its China plans as its global “One Ford” strategy is holding it back in the world’s biggest auto market, two high-ranking company insiders told Reuters.
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10.02.17As Sanctions Bite, North Korean Workers Leave Chinese Border Hub
Reuters
Almost 100,000 overseas workers, based predominantly in China and Russia, funnel some $500 million in wages a year to help finance the North Korean regime, the U.S. government says.
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10.02.17China Accused of Flooding Europe with Cheap E-Bikes
CNN
Imports of Chinese e-bikes to Europe have increased from almost zero in 2010 to an estimated 800,000 in 2017, according to the European Bicycle Manufacturers Association. The industry group has had enough: It filed a complaint with the European...
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10.02.17China Steps up Battle Against Runaway Property Prices
Financial Times
Chinese banking regulators have told lenders to crack down on the use of consumer loans to finance home purchases, the latest effort to cool down the overheated property market and rein in financial risk.
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10.02.17The New Generation of Chinese Collectors Shaking up the Art World
CNN
Michael Xufu Huang is hard to miss. In March of this year, the Chinese art collector turned heads at a Guggenheim party by showing up in a white leather jumpsuit. A week later, he swept through the VIP opening of Art Basel in Hong Kong in a powder-...
Media
09.29.17Trump on China
In the run-up to and during his race toward the presidency of the United States, Donald Trump made frequent statements about China, its people, and the government in Beijing, in remarks that ranged from effusive praise to outright attack, and which...
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09.28.17China Gives Carmakers More Time in Biggest Electric-Vehicle Plan
Bloomberg
China unveiled a comprehensive set of emission rules and delayed a credit-score program tied to the production of electric cars, giving automakers more time to prepare for the phasing out of fossil-fuel powered vehicles.
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09.28.17China to Shut down North Korean Companies
BBC
China has told North Korean companies operating in its territory to close down as it implements United Nations sanctions against the reclusive state.
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09.28.17China Leads the March of Women Learning Business
Financial Times
In her early 20s Cindy Mi preferred long pencil skirts and severe blazers. She was managing her family education business and she projected authority by dressing conservatively.
Books
09.27.17Cracking the China Conundrum
China’s rise is altering global power relations, reshaping economic debates, and commanding tremendous public attention. Despite extensive media and academic scrutiny, the conventional wisdom about China’s economy is often wrong. Cracking the China Conundrum provides a holistic and contrarian view of China’s major economic, political, and foreign policy issues.Yukon Huang trenchantly addresses widely accepted yet misguided views in the analysis of China’s economy. He examines arguments about the causes and effects of China’s possible debt and property market bubbles, trade and investment relations with the West, the links between corruption and political liberalization in a growing economy, and Beijing’s more assertive foreign policies. Huang explains that such misconceptions arise in part because China’s economic system is unprecedented in many ways—namely because it’s driven by both the market and state—which complicates the task of designing accurate and adaptable analysis and research. Further, China’s size, regional diversity, and uniquely decentralized administrative system pose difficulties for making generalizations and comparisons from micro to macro levels when trying to interpret China’s economic state accurately.This book not only interprets the ideologies that experts continue building misguided theories upon, but also examines the contributing factors to this puzzle. Cracking the China Conundrum provides an enlightening and corrective viewpoint on several major economic and political foreign policy concerns currently shaping China’s economic environment. —Oxford University Press{chop}Related Reading:“What the West Gets Wrong About China’s Economy,” Yukon Huang, Foreign Affairs, September 14, 2017“Challenging Conventional Wisdom,” Chen Weihua, China Daily, April 28, 2017“Cracking China’s Debt Conundrum,” Yukon Huang, Financial Times, December 6, 2016“Despite Slower Growth, China’s Economy Is Undergoing Major Changes,” NPR Interview with Yukon Huang, January 19, 2016
ChinaFile Recommends
09.27.17China's ‘Teapot’ Oil Refiners Feel the Heat as Competition Grows
Financial Times
China’s independent oil refiners face an uphill struggle as excess capacity in the sector and slower demand for fuel creates a tougher trading environment, a top executive has warned.
Conversation
09.27.17How are NGOs in China Faring under the New Law?
In September 2016, Beijing implemented a new law governing charities, which changed the ways domestic charitable organizations can register and fundraise. Then in January 2017, Beijing began implementation of a new law on the management of foreign...
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09.25.17China Considers Rule Change That Could Aid Tesla
Wall Street Journal
The move could pave the way for Tesla Inc. to manufacture vehicles in China.
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09.25.17As China Piles on Debt, Consumers Seek a Piece of the Action
New York Times
Chinese central bank data shows that consumer loans have grown almost 50 percent since the start of last year, and the International Monetary Fund said it expected China’s household debt as a percentage of its economic output to double by 2022...
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09.25.17Ice Hockey Makes Push to Help China Get Its Skates On
Reuters
The corralling of such resources behind the latest attempt by a major league to tap into the country’s huge market reflects how keen Beijing is to develop interest in the NHL and how much effort will be needed to make China an ice hockey country.
Media
09.23.17The German Edition of the Falun Gong-Affiliated ‘Epoch Times’ Aligns with the Far Right
On the eve of the German election Sunday, it’s no surprise that Russian state-funded media outlets are attacking German Chancellor Angela Merkel, sensationalizing migrant violence, and providing conciliatory coverage of far-right groups. Russia,...
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09.21.17S&P Downgrades China, Says Rising Debt Is Stoking Economic, Financial Risks
Reuters
S&P’s one-notch downgrade to A+ from AA- comes as Beijing grapples with the challenges of containing financial risks stemming from years of credit-fueled stimulus to meet ambitious government economic growth targets.
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09.21.17Before Wisconsin, Foxconn Vowed Big Spending in Brazil. Few Jobs Have Come.
New York Times
Before the Taiwanese manufacturing giant Foxconn pledged to spend $10 billion and create 13,000 jobs in Wisconsin, the company made a similar promise of 100,000 jobs in Brazil. Six years later, Brazil is still waiting for most of those jobs to...
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09.21.17BYD Predicts Ambitious China Shift to Electric Cars by 2030
Reuters
All vehicles in the country will be “electrified” by 2030, which could range from full electric cars to mild hybrids, Chinese automaker BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu said on Thursday. BYD, backed by Warren Buffett, has already invested heavily in the...
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09.21.17Fame Academy, the Chinese College Offering Classes in How to Become an Internet Celebrity
South China Morning Post
Chongqing Institute of Engineering has already enrolled 19 students, mainly female, to be taught about how to present themselves online to attract viewers and translate fame into profit.
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09.20.17Trump's Threats Loom as China Weighs Opening to Wall Street, Tesla
Bloomberg
Coincidence or not, China appears set to ease restrictions on foreign automakers and banks amid sustained pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to open up its economy.
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09.20.17China's Pollution Crackdown Shakes up Iron Ore Traders
Financial Times
Over the summer, price differentials between high and low grade iron ore have intensified amid a government-led crackdown on pollution and outdated steelmaking capacity. That has caught many traders on the hop and left some nursing nasty losses from...
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09.20.17The Timing May Be Right for Facebook to Enter China next Year, Analyst Predicts
CNBC
A Mizuho report pointed out that Beijing tends to lessen its media scrutiny during an administration's second term, and Facebook may have “an opening” after Xi Jinping begins his second five-year term in November.
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09.19.17China Considers Lifting Foreign EV Cap in Free Trade Zones
Bloomberg
China is discussing a plan to allow foreign carmakers to set up wholly owned electric-vehicle businesses in its free-trade zones in a major revision of a fundamental principle governing the country’s auto industry policy since the 1990s, according...
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09.19.17Trump to Punish China outside WTO
Forbes
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Monday that the Trump Administration is drawing up plans to punish China outside the World Trade Organization.
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09.19.17Fugitive Tycoon Guo Wengui Assailed by Businessman Who Says He Was Framed for Crimes
South China Morning Post
China’s highest profile fugitive, exiled billionaire Guo Wengui, is under attack from a former business partner who claims Guo got him framed for crimes he says he did not commit.
The China Africa Project
09.18.17Africa Needs Infrastructure, China Wants to Build It. So What’s the Problem?
Every week seemingly brings a new announcement of a Chinese-financed mega project somewhere in Africa. Last week’s announcement of a $5.8 billion power station in Nigeria that will be financed and built by Chinese state-owned companies is typical of...
Media
09.18.17Asia’s Reckoning: China, Japan, and the Fate of U.S. Power in the Pacific Century
The following is an edited transcript of a live event hosted at Asia Society in New York on September 7, 2017, and named for a new book by Richard McGregor, the former Beijing Bureau Chief of the Financial Times, “ChinaFile Presents: ‘Asia’s...
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09.18.17China vs U.S.: Who Is Copying Whom?
Financial Times
China is gradually shedding its reputation as the world’s technology copycat. It still spawns lookalikes, whether they be GoPro-style action cameras or Didi Chuxing, a ride-hailing app that looked awfully like Uber until it added Chinese...
Conversation
09.15.17Bannon Says the U.S. Is at ‘Economic War with China.’ Is He Right?
Steve Bannon, whose controversial views on China remain hugely influential in the White House, is visiting Hong Kong this week to speak at a China investment conference. In August, before he left his White House position as chief strategist, Bannon...
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09.15.17China's WeChat Crackdown Drives Bitcoin Devotees to Telegram
Bloomberg
With administrators personally liable for what is said on groups they run, users of bitcoin exchanges OKCoin, Huobi and BTCChina are migrating to services beyond the Chinese government’s reach.
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09.15.17G.M. Chief, in China, Challenges Planned Bans of Gasoline Cars
New York Times
Speaking in Shanghai on Friday, Mary Barra, the chief executive of General Motors said her company was making a big push to develop electric cars but that consumers, not government dictates, should decide how cars are powered.
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09.14.17China Plans First Dollar-Denominated Bond Sale in a Decade
Financial Times
China is planning to sell dollar-denominated bonds for the first time in a decade, as it seeks to take advantage of investor appetite for Chinese credit amid the country’s unexpectedly strong economic growth.
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09.14.17China Is Stumbling Hard at Acquiring the High-Tech Chip Companies It Wants So Badly
Quartz
US president Donald Trump on Wednesday vetoed a Chinese private-equity firm’s proposed $1.3 billion purchase of Lattice Semiconductor, an Oregon-based chip manufacturer.
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09.14.17VW, China Partners to Recall 4.86 Million Vehicles over Takata Airbags
Reuters
Official Chinese estimates show over 20 million cars in China had air bags made by Takata, which have been linked to at least 16 deaths and 180 injuries globally. The air bags have the potential to explode with too much force and spray shrapnel.
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09.13.17China's Two Largest Tech Companies Sign a Deal over the West's Biggest Music
NPR
Among the deals being signed that shape the way the world experiences culture, a new partnership will exert a great influence on the flow of content from the world's three remaining major record labels to an enormous and growing marketplace —...
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09.13.17The Rise and Rise of China's Xiaomi in India
Forbes
A couple of years ago in 2015, MIT Technology Review ranked Xiaomi number 2 on their list of 50 Smartest Companies -- a list that also had companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft who were rated far below the Chinese smartphone and smart home...
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09.13.17What the World’s Emptiest International Airport Says about China’s Influence
New York Times
The four-lane highway leading out of the Sri Lankan town of Hambantota gets so little traffic that it sometimes attracts more wild elephants than automobiles. The pachyderms are intelligent — they seem to use the road as a jungle shortcut — but not...
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09.12.17China Just Reversed Two Policies Designed to Keep the Yuan from Sliding
Business Insider
China is reversing course and loosening some financial restrictions after the yuan's appreciation in 2017.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.12.17China Fossil Fuel Deadline Shifts Focus to Electric Car Race
Bloomberg
China will set a deadline for automakers to end sales of fossil-fuel-powered vehicles, becoming the biggest market to do so in a move that will accelerate the push into the electric car market led by companies including BYD Co. and BAIC Motor Corp.
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09.12.17Smuggling Operations at Sea Targeted in Latest UN Sanctions against North Korea
South China Morning Post
The UN has called on member states to use “new tools” to clamp down on smuggling activities at sea under the latest sanctions against North Korea following its nuclear test last week.
Sinica Podcast
09.11.17China’s Tightening Grip on Cyberspace
from Sinica Podcast
Adam Segal returns to Sinica to comment on China’s recent cybersecurity law—where it came from, how it changed as it was being drafted, and how it may shape the flow of information in China in the future. Other issues discussed include the...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.11.17Next Stop for the Steve Bannon Insurgency: China
New York Times
Stephen K. Bannon plans to travel to Hong Kong to deliver a keynote address at an investor conference, where he will articulate his call for a much tougher American policy toward China.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.11.17Renminbi Slides after China Relaxes Currency Controls
Financial Times
The renminbi suffered its worst day in three months after China’s central bank scrapped two rules intended to bolster the currency in a sign that official nervousness about currency depreciation and capital flight has eased.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.11.17China to Shut Bitcoin Exchanges
Wall Street Journal
Chinese authorities are ordering domestic bitcoin exchanges to shut down, delivering a heavy blow to once-thriving trading hubs that helped popularize the virtual currency pushing it to recent record highs.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.11.17China Steps up Curbs on Virtual Currency Trading
Chinese regulators ordered a halt to all virtual currency trading platforms in the country, acting to further rein in risks related to cryptocurrencies, Caixin learned from a source close to regulators.
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09.08.17China’s Export Engine Slows as Imports Maintain Steady Gains
Bloomberg
China’s export growth slowed as global demand for the country’s products moderated, while imports remained robust as investment at home aided demand.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.07.17Blocked in China, Facebook Is Said to Seek a Shanghai Office
New York Times
The social media giant in recent months has quietly scouted for office space in Shanghai, according to two people with knowledge of its efforts there. Those offices would house employees working on Facebook’s effort to make hardware but could also...
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09.07.17Wanda Sues over 'False' Reports on Chairman Wang Jianlin
Wall Street Journal
Dalian Wanda Group, the property and entertainment giant controlled by billionaire Wang Jianlin, has filed defamation suits against at least 10 Chinese social media accounts that published reports the company says sent its shares and bonds tumbling.
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09.07.17Trump May Have Pushed Mexico into the Arms of China's Alibaba
CNBC
Mexico's Ministry of Economy and Alibaba will partner to get more Mexican products onto the tech firm's popular e-commerce platforms.
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09.06.17‘Dunkirk’ Conquers China's Box Office
Los Angeles Times
The World War II rescue tale “Dunkirk” dominated the box office in China last week, building on its international success.
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09.05.17China’s Former Richest Man Now Banned from Hong Kong’s Business World
CNBC
Chinese entrepreneur Li Hejun, who briefly held the title of China’s richest man, was just banned from Hong Kong’s business world.A Hong Kong court ruled to disqualify Li from being a director or being involved with the management of any Hong Kong...
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09.05.17Google Continues to Hire in China Even as Search Remains Blocked
Bloomberg
Google’s search service may be banned in China but parent Alphabet Inc. is hunting for workers in a further sign it has ambitions in the world’s biggest internet market.
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08.31.17China's HNA Group Sues Exiled Chinese Businessman
Wall Street Journal
One of China’s most acquisitive companies is suing an exiled Chinese businessman for allegedly spreading what it says are falsehoods that have hurt the conglomerate’s reputation and financial interests.
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08.31.17China Realizes It Needs Foreign Companies
Bloomberg
China is increasingly desperate for foreign investment. Yet foreign companies are less and less interested in what it has to offer. How this problem gets resolved may be one of the most important questions facing China's economy.
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08.31.17David Tang, Fashion Retailer and Raconteur, Dies at 63
New York Times
David Tang, the founder of Shanghai Tang, a global chain of flashy emporiums of Chinese-inspired clothing, accessories and home furnishings, and a prominent writer and raconteur in Hong Kong and Britain, died on Tuesday in London. He was 63.
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08.30.17China Can Squeeze Its Neighbors When It Wants. Ask South Korea
CNN
South Korean businesses have been suffering since early this year after the country angered the Chinese government with the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system. The victims include companies in tourism and retail, but also Hyundai (HYMTF),...
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08.30.17Green Gold: How China Quietly Grew into a Cannabis Superpower
South China Morning Post
Every year in April, Jiang Xingquan sets aside part of his farm in northern China to grow cannabis. The size of the plot varies with market demand but over the last few years it has been about 600 hectares.
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08.30.17Alibaba and Tencent Are Showing How Companies Can Get around Beijing's Crackdown on Foreign Deals
CNBC
The firms, among China’s most important tech giants, are overseeing the merger of two companies they back. Chinese delivery firm 58 Suyun is combining with Hong Kong logistics company GoGoVan — both have raised funds from Alibaba, and Tencent backs...