BEIJING | The world was confident about China. She was expected to be the engine of growth of the world economy. The remedy against the bitterness that surrounds Western markets. The fear of a hard landing is part of the subconscious of many experts but there is still confidence that the second world’s economy will manage to land softly. Opinions are divided: Pessimists predict a greater slowdown within the following months….
China is willing to help, but everyone has limits. Premier Wen Jiabao told visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a state visit in Beijing on Thursday that Beijing plans to continue buying European sovereign debt, the strongest sign of support for its biggest trading partner in months, although it urged further measures to be taken. “The European debt crisis has continued to worsen, giving rise to serious concerns in the…
Famous for his provocative views on international economics and China’s rise, Andy Xie is an independent economist who predicted the Asian bubble in 1997. Based in Shanghai, he is a former Morgan Stanley star chief Asia-Pacific analyst. We interviewed him for our summer interviews on China’s challenges, the eurodrama and his forecast for the future. For Mr. Xie, Wall Street bankers are viewed in China as “a bunch of corrupt…
BEIJING | Guan Jianzhong, chairman at Dagong Global Credit, defends the independence of his ratings agency against the US-biased most powerful financial grade houses. Which are the differences between Dagong and its Western rivals: Moody’s, Fitch and S&P? We are essentially different. In the case of these three agencies, they try to protect US interests. The standards they use are the result of their views and values accompanied by a…
By CaixaBank research team, in Barcelona | The rise of prices below the government’s target of 4% has created further room for expansionary policies. Hence the government cut the official interest rate by 25 basis points, down to 6.31%, at the beginning of June, and reduced the cash reserve ratio by 50 basis points in mid-May. For the remainder of the year, we predict further reductions in the cash reserve…
BEIJING | The BBC recently released an article on how Chinese students with foreign qualifications are having a harsh time looking for a job. Not so long ago, the article goes, they used to have a promising professional future in China ahead of them. They had an experience, language skills and qualifications other potential employees educated in local universities did not. Conversely, nowadays their academic profile seem not to fit…
BEIJING | China is thirsty of energy. It’s the world’s biggest consumer of energy and the second consumer of oil. The world’s biggest country needs energy more than anything in order to keep the engine of growth working at high speed. Furthermore, development and urbanisation plans might put their dependency on foreign resources to the brink due to an increasing need of energy to power its vast urban areas. So,…
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. The emerging markets won't avoid euro's trouble Blackberry is killing itself how to get her backget=”_blank”>Be lazy, it's good for your company Why Barclays should not be turned into a scapegoat 5 reasons China's…
BEIJING | The launch of the new Ipad in China seems to be nearer now that Apple managed to get rid of the biggest barrier it was facing: the legal dispute with the Chinese company Proview. It seems Apple underestimated the fact that they were targeting a strategic market with a product named after a trademark that already existed in the country. For Proview, Ipad was just a name. But for…
BEIJING | The option that Chinese economy is in a more severe slowdown than the one officially acknowledged has always been in the international community's subconscious. Economists and experts have been aware of a well known, but not so evident, truth where the usually optimistic official data might not be completely reliable. The debate is open, making it difficult to identify the actual reach of the economic consequences born out…