Beijing, We Have A Problem
China’s new leaders, including President Xi Jinping, haven’t embraced environmental protection by choice. They’ve been compelled by a new political reality: an informed Chinese public. Read Here – Businessweek
Category: China
The Reformer?
Xi Jinping’s hold on political power is both more direct and came earlier than Deng Xiaoping’s, who had to combat Mao’s designated successor Hua Guofeng for influence. Even after winning the power struggle, Deng still ruled only indirectly, as he never formally served as the CCP’s general secretary or China’s president or premier. In contrast, […]
It’s A 7.5 Percent Bummer, Folks, No More
China’s economy grew 7.7 percent in 2013, overshooting the official target of 7.5 percent, But a shaky start this year, as shown in soft manufacturing activity, has put the focus on how the government will pace and sequence its overhauls while guaranteeing solid growth amid the world’s fragile recovery. Economic growth predicted for 2014 at […]
China’s Terrorism Tensions
Tensions in resource-rich western China have been escalating for years, as Han Chinese emigrate to the region, in many cases taking the best jobs while locals, especially those who don’t speak Mandarin, face widespread poverty and growing unemployment. Read Here – The Atlantic
Xi Strengthens His Hands, And How
In the 12 months since Xi Jinping assumed the presidency of China, he has amassed more power more swiftly than any Chinese leader since Deng Xiaoping, foreshadowing changes in the way China governs itself and deals with the rest of the world. Read Here – Businessweek
It’s The Gas, Stupid
China has revolution envy. The world’s largest energy consumer wants a natural gas boom to match the speedy transformation in the U.S., where shale gas production more than quadrupled between 2007 and 2012. Read Here – Bloomberg
The Dollar Sinkhole
China’s $3.8 trillion of currency reserves are the largest stockpile ever amassed. Economists have long seen that money as a strength — the ultimate rainy-day fund should China’s shadow-banking system blow up. Trouble is, the value of those holdings depends on China’s $1.3 trillion of U.S. Treasuries. If they plunge in value, all hell breaks loose […]
The Insecure Global Power
Faced with growing expectations, China’s foreign policy is actually becoming more insecure. Read Here – The Diplomat
Look Who’s Travelling…
One luxury sector in China that hasn’t taken a hit under President Xi Jinping’s austerity and anti-graft campaign is overseas travel. Last year, Chinese tourists made 97 million overseas trips—up from just 10 million in 2000 and 83 million in 2012. And their spending on overseas travel increased 28 percent in the first nine months of 2013, as compared with the same period […]
Who Saved The World?
“Sarajevo, 21st-century version.” This is how political scientist Anne-Marie Slaughter, the director of policy planning under former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, refers to what is currently brewing off the Chinese coast, where the territorial claims of several nations overlap. Read Here – Der Spiegel
looking beyond borders 