The Economist (March 23)
“On Ukraine China has played an awkward hand ruthlessly and well. Its goals are subtle: to ensure Russia is subordinate but not so weak that Mr Putin’s regime implodes; to burnish its own credentials as a peacemaker in the eyes of the emerging world; and, with an eye on Taiwan, to undermine the perceived legitimacy of Western sanctions and military support as a tool of foreign policy.”
Tags: China, Legitimacy, Peacemaker, Perceived, Putin, Russia, Ruthlessly, Sanctions, Subordinate, Taiwan, Ukraine, Undermine
Wall Street Journal (March 18)
“Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s planned visit to Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin is the latest marker of the deep ties between Beijing and Moscow as the war in Ukraine continues into its second year.” As Xi advances “an increasingly assertive diplomacy” to “pursue… his country’s rightful place as a great power…. China’s relationship with Russia is especially important.”
Tags: Assertive, Beijing, China, Deep ties, Diplomacy, Great power, Moscow, Putin, Relationship, Russia, Ukraine, Visit, War, Xi
Bloomberg (March 5)
China’s reopening “means Chinese oil consumption is poised to hit a record this year. Daily demand will reach an all-time high of 16 million barrels a day,” and looks increasingly likely to tip the price back above $100 a barrel amid tight supply.
Tags: 100, 16 mmb/d, China, Consumption, Demand, Oil, Poised, Price, Record, Reopening, Tight supply, Tip
Wall Street Journal (March 2)
With “the rapidly advancing nuclear capabilities of all four of America’s nuclear-capable rivals—Russia, Iran, North Korea and China,” it is time to reevaluate nuclear strategy. “Instead of pursuing 1990s-era fantasies about reducing the role of nuclear weapons, Washington needs to understand that… it is entering a long-term strategic-arms competition.” The U.S. must “strengthen its strategic forces to provide an adequate deterrent for itself and the more than 30 formal treaty allies that rely on U.S. nuclear weapons for their security.”
Tags: 1990s, Advancing, Allies, Capabilities, China, Competition, Deterrent, Iran, North Korea, Nuclear, Rivals, Russia, Strategic arms, Strategy, U.S., Weapons
Financial Times (February 26)
These are, according to Citigroup analysts, “distinctly echoey times.” Their “research suggests that, if it is not careful, China may be on track for a new wave of Japanification.” China is now remarkably similar to Japan’s post-property bubble era in, for example, demographics. China’s population is “now shrinking as Japan’s did years earlier… a reminder that after 1990, Japan’s housing price index fell as the 35- to 54-year-old cohort decreased.” These and other factors call for warnings about “the potential risks for China’s banking system.”
Tags: 1990, Analysts, China, China’s banking system, Citigroup, Demographics, Echoey, Housing price index, Japanification, Population, Property bubble, Research, Risks, Shrinking, Warnings
Global Times (February 25)
Chinese shipbuilders have “won all 17 new orders for pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) worldwide in January, as domestic enterprises break Japanese and South Korean monopoly of PCTC construction thanks to the nation’s booming car exports.” January’s new orders “totaled a combined 510,000 deadweight tons with 152,000 parking spots.”
Tags: Booming, Car, Car exports, Carriers, China, January, Japan, Monopoly, New orders, Shipbuilders, South Korea, Truck, Won
Wall Street Journal (February 21)
“Arming Russia would be a new and explicit demonstration of China’s hostile intentions toward the U.S. and the West. It would certainly erase Beijing’s seeming desire… to put U.S.-China relations on a better course. It would also require a firm U.S. response, which would have to include further economic decoupling.”
Tags: Arming, China, Demonstration, Desire, Economic decoupling, Explicit, Hostile, Intentions, Relations, Response, Russia, U.S., West
South China Morning Post (February 17)
“China’s regulators have unblocked the path for companies to list overseas, reopening the avenue of fundraising after a 20-month obstruction to enable businesses to recapitalise for growth in the post-Covid period.” Applications must be vetted by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) while the issuer must adhere to rules established by industry regulators in “disclosures of customers’ data and anything that could be construed as state secret.”
Tags: China, CSRC, Customers’ data, Disclosures, Fundraising, Growth, Industry regulators, Issuer, Overseas, Post-Covid, Recapitalise, Regulators, Reopening, State secrets, Vetted
Reuters (February 4)
“The global trade war is taking an unexpected turn. Beijing may ban the export of technology used to make solar panels, an industry which China dominates by controlling at least 75% of its global supply chain. That has repercussions for the West’s drive to create its own green energy industry.” Any such move is more likely “to slow, not halt” the West’s solar push. “Losing access to Chinese solar technology, such as furnaces for melting silicon, would not be an insurmountable problem.”
Tags: Ban, Beijing, China, Export, Furnaces, Global trade war, Green energy, Repercussions, Silicon, Solar panels, Solar technology, Supply chain, Technology, Unexpected, West
Bloomberg (February 1)
“Shaky property markets across much of the world pose another risk to the global economy as higher interest rates erode household finances and threaten to exacerbate falling prices.” From the U.S. to China, Australia and New Zealand, the housing slide could “threaten to undermine consumer confidence and weigh on household spending.” Moreover, “investment too could take a hit as developers scale back projects in response to falling prices, waning demand and higher borrowing costs.”
Tags: Australia, China, Consumer confidence, Demand, Developers, Falling prices, Global economy, Household spending, Interest rates, Investment, New Zealand, Property markets, Risk, Shaky, U.S.
