China

Bank of China

China is a relevant market for foreign banks, but there are hurdles beyond market entry

Alicia García Herrero (Natixis) | China’s banking sector technically opened up to full foreign competition in late 2019, as an aftermath of the Trump-Xi meeting in Beijing in 2017. The formal announcement has hardly changed the situation of foreign banks operating in China, which have a small and decreasing market share as well as lower profitability than domestic peers. Lower foreign participation than peers Despite the further opening, the share…


ChinaSolarPanels

A boring 2024 for the Chinese economy would be a relief for the world

Alicia García Herrero (Natixis) | The years of China’s high growth are past, as the world learned painfully in 2023. Notwithstanding the enormous tailwinds stemming from having exited Zero-Covid policies during 2022, the Chinese economy barely reached the underwhelming 5% GDP growth target cautiously set by Premier Li Qiang back in March 2022. The reasons for the very slow recovery of the Chinese economy in 2023 are both cyclical and…


XI Biden

Biden-Xi dialogue instrumental for a successful EU-China Summit in Beijing

Alicia García Herrero (Natixis) | The Biden-Xi summit in San Francisco on 15 and 16 November 2023 might feel underwhelming for its lack of concrete announcements, especially given the long list of pending issues which had piled up since their last encounter on the sidelines of the G20 in Bali. Disappointments were equally shared by the two sides. On the Chinese side, the most pressing issue was likely the lifting…


XI Biden

Biden and Xi both have good reasons to end the summit with a -temporary- bang

Alicia García Herrero (Natixis) | The importance of the much-expected meeting between President Biden and President Xi in San Francisco cannot be understated, no matter the likely shallowness of the outcomes.The fact that there have only been two face-to-face since Biden took over from President Trump says it all about the importance of this encounter as the pinnacle of a series of meetings to step up dialogue between the two…


china drags

How might China hit back over EU probe into EV subsidies?

Alicia García Herrero (Natixis) | During her State of the Union address on 13 September, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the European Union would undertake an anti-subsidy probe against the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) sector. This signalled a major step in the EU’s shift to a more aggressive trade defence against China and raises the question of how China will react, given the importance of the…


comisioneuropeaTC

EU adds steelmakers to list of anti-subsidy investigations into Chinese products

Banca March : The European Union adds steel manufacturers to its list of anti-subsidy investigations into Chinese products. On 4 October, the EU began this process on electric vehicles from China; three days ago, it considered the study on windmills; and since yesterday, on steel mills. Washington has asked to create a common front with the European bloc, which would implement greater scrutiny on China, in exchange for avoiding the…


fmi china

IMF considering increasing China’s voting rights to reflect its position in global economy

Banca March: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is considering increasing China’s voting rights to bring its share in the fund in line with its position in the global economy. Each country contributes a quota based on various factors reflecting economic positioning relative to the world economy. This quota designates the amount each country has to pay into the fund, as well as its voting rights. Currently, the Asian giant has…


China

World Bank downgrades East Asian growth forecasts due to contagion effect from China’s slumping growth forecasts

Banca March: The World Bank has updated its economic forecasts for East Asia and the Pacific in its October report. Although the regions in question have shown a recovery from pandemic levels, the association warns of slow development. While the outlook for China’s output rates in 2023 is maintained (5.1%), those for next year 2024 are down from April’s estimates (4.8% to 4.4%). Likewise, the contagion effect of the Chinese…


US China new

US and China one step closer to strengthening diplomatic ties

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met this weekend in Malta. The aim is to pave the way for a meeting between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping expected to take place in November. The two governors may have the opportunity to meet at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in San Francisco. The Chinese minister said the two sides had agreed to hold…


china real estate 1

China offers more favourable terms to first-time homebuyers to revive property sector

Banca March: China is taking steps to revive the real estate sector. In order to support the real estate market and revive the economy, the Chinese government is once again focusing on demand. On the one hand, local governments in major cities are offering more favourable conditions to first-time homebuyers. On the other hand, for people wishing to buy a second home, the country had strong restrictions to avoid massive…