BEIJING | China’s belief that its model of development is legitimate is grounded on the fact that last decades’ rampant economic growth has been possible thanks to the very characteristics that define it. The leadership was convinced that, under such path, success was granted regardless of the fact that they were ignoring certain factors linked to aperture and development. They did not consider defining points as long as there was…
MADRID | As the daily newspaper El Economista published Friday, China has been intensifying its landing in Spain and has set its sight, among many other things, on the financial sector. A year and a half after the first bank of the Asian giant landed, the Bank of China, which ranks the third, has set its first step in Spain. The entity has obtained the authorisation to operate through its division established…
For months now the Spanish and international press have been announcing an imminent salvage of the battered European economy by the Chinese. What seems to be true is that it is something that is never confirmed, just rumours, no actual, concrete action on the part of China. This is the idea that is floating around the City in London and among the Anglo-Saxon commentators, especially among those who most favour…
The happiness of Beijing residents is in recession for the fourth consecutive year. The reasons behind such state of mind are not exclusive of the Chinese capital and they represent the challenges the Communist Party will have to face during the year that has just begun in China. In Europe, the year 2012 exudes pessimism. Conversely, according to Chinese astrology, the symbolism attached to this mythological animal will bring power…
A curated selection of links we hope can enlighten us all; some come from our corner, some do from other corners of the net. And as always, our comment widgets are anxious to get your suggestions. UK, could you just cut the banker-pay drama and legislate like Spain? New York sues banks that used electronic system for fraud over mortgages Is insider-trading crackdown the cause of hedge fund’s poor results? Why…
LONDON | Lloyds TSB, the 40pc taxpayer-owned British bank, wondered how much savings UK families have and how this compare to Germany and China. Its researchers came up with some answers: the British household savings ratio (saving proportion of a consumer’s disposable income) has seen a steep downward trend over the past decade, in contrast with the other two countries. The results from Lloyds new survey were set alongside numbers…
The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks 2012 Report highlights dystopia as one of the major three risk cases. The concept is used to describe a scenario where literally “life is full of hardship and devoid of hope.” This is an ideal far away from the motto behind the Chinese Dream so insistently emphasised by the state’s propagandistic apparatus: prosperity will be achieved thanks to a society that works in unison…
By Julia Pastor | Given the changing global economy and its prospects for the coming months, all eyes are on China, where policies to curb real estate prices are beginning to take effect. According to official data from the national statistics office, that JP Morgan in Spain includes in its Friday report, in November, new housing prices in China fell by -0.17% MoM (although they are still at +2.3% YoY)…
China’s foreign debt totaled $697.16 billion at the end of September, a rise of 27 percent over the figure at the end of 2010, according to the foreign exchange regulatory officials of the Asian country. The short term debt accounted for 72.81 percent of the total, amounting to $507.63 billion, underlines the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on its official website. In addition, the institution explained that 75.81 percent of…
The government of Portugal has sold to the Chinese company Three Gorges Corporation a package of shares representing 21.35% of the social capital that the state held in the Portuguese electrical company Energias de Portugal (EDP), in exchange of a payment of €2.693 billion, according to information provided by the government investment company Parpública to the Portuguese market supervisor, CMVM. The Portuguese executive explains that its choice was based of…