Reports

11.27.12

Is China Over-Investing and Does it Matter?

Il Houng Lee, Murtaza Syed, Liu Xueyan
Luo Xiaoyuan
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Now close to 50 percent of GDP, this paper assesses the appropriateness of China’s current investment levels. It finds that China’s capital-to-output ratio is within the range of other emerging markets, but its economic growth rates stand out,...

Caixin Media

11.26.12

When Tradition is Flattened by Policy

A “tomb-flattening policy” in Henan province has sparked intense controversy, with millions of tombs reportedly destroyed by local authorities in a quest to turn graveyards into farmland.The policy can be seen as a historical extension of land-...

Lobbying, a Windfall and a Leader’s Family

David Barboza
New York Times
Wen Jiabao's relatives grew extraordinarily wealthy during his leadership, with most wealth coming from Ping An Insurance shares. 

China WIll Build the Tallest Building in the World in Just 90 Days

Jesus Diaz
Gizmodo
Sky City and its 2,749 feet distributed over 220 floors will grow in just 90 days in Changsha city, at the rate of five floors per day.

The Key to Bringing Democracy to China

Huang Yasheng
Foreign Policy
For many years, Western leaders have couched the argument for greater political openness and democratization in China in moral terms, citing the universality of both human rights and the aspirations for freedom and independence. In May, defending...

China’s Xi May Unveil Plan for Change Late 2013, CICC Head Says

Zhou Xin
Bloomberg
China’s new leadership, headed by Xi Jinping, will probably unveil new market-oriented changes in late 2013, according to Li Jiange, head of the country’s biggest investment bank.Li, chairman of China International Capital Corp. and a vice...

Caixin Media

11.17.12

As 18th Congress Ends, a Peek into the Process

Over the past twenty years, economist Zhang Zhuoyuan has witnessed and actively participated in building the nation’s economic policy.He participated in the drafting of reports at each of the Communist Party’s three previous national congresses,...

China's 'Affluent' Population to Hit 280 Million by 2020

Laurie Burkitt
Wall Street Journal
As China tries to shift from a manufacturing-based economy to one driven by consumption, it hopes to double its consumer base.

Environment

11.15.12

An Insight into the Green Vocabulary of the Chinese Communist Party

from chinadialogue
After years of neglect, the environment is gradually gaining more attention from China’s leaders. The most noticeable manifestation of this is in their vocabulary.Six months ago, Hu Jintao, speaking at the opening of a study session for provincial...

Viewpoint

11.14.12

Are You Happier Than You Were Ten Years Ago?

J. Michael Evans
“Many Chinese feel that they have not participated in the economic benefits of an economy that has been growing very rapidly,” says Michael Evans, a vice chairman of the Goldman Sachs Group and head of growth markets for the Wall Street...

Opinion: Don't Expect Radical Reforms in China

Michal Meidan
Financial Times
If Li Keqiang walks on stage second it will suggest the premier post has been upgraded to a position of greater political clout.

Zhou Seen Exiting PBOC as China Installs New Economic Leadership

Kevin Hamlin and Michael Forsythe
Bloomberg
Top finance official Vice Premier Wang Qishan will move to a new role and Commerce Minister Chen Deming is also likely to exit. 

China's Loans Unexpectedly Fall as Money Supply Misses Forecast

Zheng Lifei, Nerys Avery
Bloomberg
Central Bank governor warns China is still deal with the effects of five years of financial crisis overseas.

Caixin Media

11.12.12

Weighing Risks Amid a Wealth Management Boom

Is China’s wealth management business a booming profit volcano for investors, or just another smoke-and-mirrors pyramid scheme?It’s a question dividing the nation’s bankers and banking regulators as investors of all kinds pour cash into bank-...

China, at Party Congress, Touts its Cultural Advances

Ian Johnson
New York Times
Party guidance is the "soul” of China's moves to privitize and promote industries that can spread soft power abroad. 

China Turns Corner on Economy as Party Chooses New Leaders

Kevin Yao
Reuters
The world's No2 economy has stopped slowing, the economic planning agency said, forecasting 2012 GDP growth of 7.5 percent or more.

Two Rising China Leaders Say Open to Wealth Declarations

John Ruwitch
Reuters
After report on Wen Jiabao's "hidden riches," Guangdong and Shanghai party bosses said officials will eventually have to declare assets.

China's Economy to Overtake U.S. Economy in Four Years, Says OECD

Jospehine Moulds
Guardian
A Paris-based think tank said China's economy will be larger than the combined eurozone economies by year's end and will overtake the US by the end of 2016.

Viewpoint

11.09.12

Pragmatism and Patience

Hamid Biglari
Hamid Bilgari, Vice Chairman of Citicorp, the strategic arm of Citigroup, is a leader in international investment banking. Bilgari says that pragmatism and patience are the dominant qualities exhibited by cultures facing major change, such as...

China: Does It Have to Become more like us?

Stephanie Flanders
BBC
Economic history teaches us that China is likely to get stuck in the middle: neither a poor economy nor a rich one.

China's Communist Party Congress Opens with a Warning

Peter Ford
Christian Science Monitor
Outgoing President Hu Jintao warned that the Communist Party faces 'collapse' if it fails to clean up corruption.

Debating China’s Economic Future

Nicholas Lardy and Michael Pettis
Wall Street Journal
Is China’s economic growth destined to plunge down to 3% to 4% a year, or can it be sustained in the current 7% to 8% range? China Real Time has asked heavyweight experts Michael Pettis of Peking University and ...

Reports

11.06.12

Investment-Led Growth in China: Global Spillovers

Ashvin Ahuja, Malhar Nabar
Luo Xiaoyuan
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Over the past decade, China’s growth model has become more reliant on investment and its footprint in global imports has widened substantially. Several economies within China’s supply chain are increasingly exposed to its investment-led growth and...

Reports

11.05.12

The Spillover Effects of a Downturn in China’s Real Estate Investment

Ashvin Ahuja, Alla Myrvoda
Luo Xiaoyuan
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Real estate investment accounts for a quarter of total fixed asset investment (FAI) in China. The real estate sector’s extensive industrial and financial linkages make it a special type of economic activity, especially where the credit creation...

China Leads in Foreign Direct Investment

Jack Perkowski
Forbes
China reclaiming from the FDI leadership had as much to do with the fall off in FDI into the U.S. as it had to do with events in China.

When Madison Met Handan – A Tale of Two Cities

Dinny McMahon and Carolyn Cui
Wall Street Journal
It’s unlikely that many of the 60 Chinese investors who visited Madison in September had heard of the Wisconsin state capital and home of the University of Wisconsin Badgers before agreeing to visit the U.S. Similarly the city of Handan, the Chinese...

Caixin Media

11.02.12

18 Reforms for the Party’s 18th Congress

China’s leadership handover comes at a critical moment for society and the economy, and changes are in order.The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party this month comes at a critical time described by economist Wu Jinglian as “a tipping...

Billions in Hidden Riches for Family of Chinese Leader

David Barboza
New York Times
Wen Jiabao's son, daughter, younger brother and brother-in-law have become extraordinarily wealthy during his leadership. 

Better Ways to Deal with China

Eduardo Porter
New York Times
Pushing China around like a bulked-up version of 1980s Japan doesn't fit a long-term U.S. objective: drawing China into the club of prosperous, rule-bound and democratic nations.

An Alternative Look at China’s Labor Markets

Tom Orlik and MinJung Kim.
Wall Street Journal
Unemployment is arguably the most important, but least well measured, factor in China’s economy. Low unemployment and rising wages signal economic health, making it less likely that the government will rush to pump up growth. The reverse –...

Candidates Debate Rise of China; China Debates Reform

Bill Bishop
Deal Book
China's presumptive next president, Xi Jinping, may wish his economy were the juggernaut many Americans think it is. He will inherit an economy in desperate need of reform and rebalancing. As discussed in an earlier China...

Europe and China Don't Need a Trade War: EU Trade Chief

Robin Emmott and Sebastian Moffett
Reuters
De Gucht says EU won't back down from fight againt unfair Chinese competition, but mutual self-interest will prevent trade war.  

China's Consumer-led Growth

S.C.
Economist
Official data show that consumption contributed over half of China's growth so far this year, more than investment's contribution.

China Is Wary of U.S. Candidates’ Tough Talk

Jane Perlez
New York Times
Concern among Chinese officials, executives and academics is growing that U.S. attidudes toward China won't cool post-Election Day.

China Faces Tough Choice on Growth

TOM ORLIK And BOB DAVIS
Wall Street Journal
China's latest evidence of sputtering growth underlines a dilemma for its incoming leaders: They can shore up the economy by doubling down on an exhausted growth model, or take a risky political bet on reforms that could worsen the slowdown in...

Foxconn Workers Have Fun Sometimes

James Fallows
Atlantic
James Fallows' pics from inside a Chinese factory making many famous Western electronic brands.

Books

10.18.12

China and the Credit Crisis

Giles Chance
China’s arrival on the world scene in the 1990s was the largest part of globalization. It brought many benefits worldwide: lower prices to Western consumers, large profits to multinationals, huge windfalls to commodity-rich countries, and employment and strong export growth to China. China’s emergence as a major global supplier and trader helped to create a boom which brought global growth with lower inflation and, for a time, an illusory stability, and also made China into the largest financer of the developed world.But Western politicians, regulators and bankers, their vision limited by national boundaries, did not understand at the time the true causes of the global economic boom of the Millennium. They attributed it largely to a revolution in risk management and their own wise policies. China and the Credit Crisis argues that if the role played in the new prosperity by globalization and an emerging China had been better understood, more appropriate policies and actions may have been adopted by central bankers and regulators which could have avoided the financial crash in 2008, or at least greatly limited its impact.China and the Credit Crisis goes on to examine the larger role that China will continue to play in a post-crisis world.

A Time-honored Tradition: Election Year and China-bashing

The Washington Post Editorial Board
Washington Post
China's two decade explosive growth overshadows a struggling corruption-plagued communist state.

U.S. Presidential Debate Sees Candidates Flex China Muscle

Liu Jie
Xinhua
Although the yuan rose nearly 30 percent since 2005, U.S. politicians are still taking jabs at China's currency regime.

Analysis: Lost in Debate - Reality of U.S.-China Ties

Associated Press
U.S. presidential politics vilifying China obscures how deeply entwined the two countries have become. 

Economists Predict Slower Growth for China

Rob Schmitz
Marketplace
Tsinghua University economist Patrick Chovanec thinks China’s actual GDP growth is around four percent.

China and Its Trade Tactics are Coming to the Debates

Sharon LaFraniere
New York Times
China's economic relations with U.S. could feature hotly in next Presidential debate.

Chinese Netizens Debate the Merits of Owning a Luxury Car

Rachel Lu
One couple asks if they can own a BMW on a combined income of $2,100 a month.

China Now Eats Twice As Much Meat as the United States

Malcolm Moore
Telegraph
Chinese demand for meat has quadrupled over 30 years and the nation now eats a quarter of the world supply.

Romney Can Invoke Japan Overtaking China as U.S. Lender

Wes Goodman and Daniel Kruger
Bloomberg
China is poised to lose its place as the U.S.’s biggest creditor for the first time since the height of the financial crisis, blunting one of Mitt Romney’s favored attacks in the presidential campaign.

How a High-Speed Rail Crash Exposed China’s Corruption

Evan Osnos
New Yorker
This was not a bus plunging off a road in a provincial outpost; it was dozens of men and women dying on one of the nation’s proudest achievements—in a newly wired age, when passengers had cell phones and witnesses and critics finally had the tools...

American Politics and Chinese Data

Bill Bishop
Deal Book
In the midst of increasingly heated election rhetoric about China, Beijing has released some important economic data as its currency hits record highs. Both Mitt Romney and his running mate, Paul D. Ryancriticized...

China Economic Figures Shore Up Global Markets

Kelvin Chan
Associated Press
Markets rose Monday on news of China's Sept. inflation falling to 1.9 percent from 2 percent in Aug. 

Ryan Criticizes Obama Administration China Policy

Thomas Kaplan
New York Times
Romney Republican running mate slams President for delaying report on currency manipulation. 

Reports

10.12.12

Chinese Direct Investment in California

Daniel H. Rosen and Thilo Hanemann
Daniel H. Rosen
Asia Society
To build the case for a robust response to these opportunities and looming risks, this report analyzes Chinese investment in California in depth, mining a unique database for insights about California’s comparative advantages, the Chinese firms most...

Forbes China 100 Richest List

Russell Flannery
Forbes
Forty-five of China’s 100 biggest fortunes slipped from last year’s FORBES ASIA Richest List. 

Sinica Podcast

10.12.12

No Ancient Wisdom, No Followers

Jeremy Goldkorn & James McGregor from Sinica Podcast
As China continues to subsidize inefficient state enterprises on a massive scale, an increasing number of critics—domestic and foreign—are questioning whether current policies mark a rejection or corruption of the vision championed by reformers like...

Censorship Reaching 1,000 Miles Exposed on China’s Twitter

Yueran Zhang
Netizens exposing public servants' taste for expensive timepieces has sparked an online and newspaper crackdown.  On October 9, Wang Keqin (@王克勤), an Economic Observer (@经济观察报) reporter posted on Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter, that...

Noda Calls for China Talks as Island Spat Threatens Growth

Matthew Winkler, Isabel Reynolds and...
Bloomberg
PM calls for talks to contain economic damage from dispute with Japan's No. 1 trade partner.

Over A Distressed Europe, It's Super China To The Rescue

Kenneth Rapoza
Forbes
China is considering lending even more money to bail out the region’s recessionary economies.

Five Points on the Deeply Flawed U.S. Congress Huawei Report

Graham Webster
Transpacifica
Chinese telecomms firms painted as shady, but evidence to back up allegations is hidden in report's classified sections.

As Romney Repeats Trade Message, Bain Maintains China Ties

Sharon LaFraniere and Mike McIntire
New York Times
China-related holdings by funds in which Mr. Romney has invested are a reminder of how he inhabits two worlds. 

China Gets Back to Work

Bill Bishop
New York Times
After China's Golden Week holiday, a round-up of important recent stories on economy and politics.

China's Multimillionaires Mapped

John Burn-Murdoch
Guardian
There were 7,905 multimillionaires in China at the end of 2011, an increase of 41% compared to 2007 - but how are they distributed across the country? WealthInsight, specialists in data on high net worth individuals, have released the...