OilPrice.com (April 12)
The Iran “crisis has thrown the precarity of the current global energy trade into sharp relief,” accelerating shifts in energy policy. That shift is expected to include “expanded clean energy production capacity” and greatly benefit China. Chinese companies are “incredibly well positioned to continue to consolidate their dominance in global markets, as they are by far the cheapest producer and most accessible trade partner for many nations that have been left in the lurch by the effective blockade of Hormuz.”
Tags: Accelerating, Accessible, Blockade, Capacity, Cheapest, China, Clean energy, Consolidate, Crisis, Dominance, Global markets, Hormuz, Iran, Policy, Precarity, Producer, Shifts, Trade, Trade partner
New York Times (April 12)
Make no mistake “Trump’s war is weakening America,” but nobody should “root for this country to fail. We all have a stake in the nation that he leads. So does the rest of the free world. There are no other democracies with the economic and military strength to counter China and Russia. When America is weaker and poorer, as this war has made us, authoritarianism benefits.”
Tags: China, Democracies, Economic, Fail, Free world, Military, Mistake, Poorer, Russia, Stake, Strength, Trump, U.S., War, Weakening
Bloomberg (April 6)
“Chinese bonds may be reaching an historic turning point, with yields climbing from record low levels as deflationary pressures ease and expectations for monetary loosening recede…. Sentiment in the largest emerging debt market has shifted after a slew of upbeat data, from a surprise growth rebound to slower factory-gate price declines, cast fresh doubts on the deflation-driven narrative that has dominated trading in recent years.”
Tags: Bonds, China, Deflationary pressures, Emerging debt market, Expectations, Growth, Historic, Monetary loosening, Rebound, Record low, Sentiment, Turning-point, Upbeat, Yields
South China Morning Post (April 6)
“China’s yuan may be going global faster than Western data suggests” as “many yuan transactions are now routed through China’s own global payment system, which often does not show up in traditional data sets.” Such an understatement by mainstream metrics “could help explain the gap between Beijing’s official narrative–which describes the yuan as the world’s third-largest payment currency–and readings from tracking systems such as the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift).”
Tags: China, Currency, Gap, Global, Global payment system, Mainstream metrics, Traditional data sets, Understatement, Western data, Yuan, Yuan transactions
Investing.com (April 4)
Goldman Sachs thinks “China appears better placed than most major economies to withstand the ongoing oil shock triggered by Middle East tensions, with structural advantages in its energy mix, supply diversification and strategic reserves helping cushion the impact.”
Tags: China, Economies, Energy mix, Goldman Sachs, Middle East tensions, Oil shock, Strategic reserves, Structural advantages, Supply diversification, Withstand
Barron’s (March 26)
“The war in Iran and consequent blockage of the Strait of Hormuz offer a stark reminder of a different geopolitical risk, one lurking in tech-heavy global portfolios that are betting on artificial intelligence: Taiwan.” 75% of global foundry revenue originates in the island nation. “Investors often put Taiwan in the ‘too big to fail’ bucket, meaning China wouldn’t dare attack anytime soon because of the cascading ramifications…. But the far-reaching ripples from Iran’s attacks on the Strait of Hormuz, itself once thought to be in the unlikely bucket, is a reminder of the risks to global chokeholds and the potential spillover from geopolitical conflict.”
Tags: AI, Attack, Cascading, China, Foundry, Geopolitical risk, Global chokeholds, Hormuz, Investors, Iran, Ramifications, Revenue, Spillover, Taiwan, War
OilPrice.com (March 11)
“The world’s top crude oil and LNG importer, China, is not as exposed and vulnerable to energy deliveries from the Middle East as one might think. China has been amassing crude volumes in storage for months, it has been working for years to diversify oil and gas supply sources and routes, and has boosted the share of transport electrification, which has reduced demand for road transportation fuels.”
Tags: China, Crude oil, Demand, Electrification, Energy, Exposed, Gas, Importer, LNG, Middle East, Storage. Diversify, Supply sources, Transport, Vulnerable
Guessing Headlights (March 3)
“The rise of Chinese EVs has never been more apparent. Chinese automakers were once seen as emerging players, but it has now reshaped global competition with its dominance across the world.” Marking “a historic tipping point in the global transition to electric mobility,” in 2025, China was able to surpass “50% EV sales share for the first time… reaching around 12 million units and overtaking internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle sales for the first time.”
Tags: 12 million units, 2025, Automakers, China, Dominance, Electric mobility, Emerging players, EVs, Global competition, Internal combustion, Reshaped, Tipping point, Transition, Vehicle sales
CNN (February 24)
China is “the real winner from the Supreme Court’s tariff ruling.” As major trade partners face “renewed uncertainty,” the “dramatic rebuke to the US president’s trade agenda” has delivered “clear vindication” to its biggest economic rival. When Trump embarks to China in March, he will be missing one of his “go-to tools for economic negotiations with other nations” or, what China has decried as, “unilateral bullying.” Negotiating power “seems to have shifted dramatically” in China’s favor.
Tags: Agenda, China, Economic rival, Negotiations, Rebuke, Supreme Court, Tariff ruling, Trade partners, U.S., Uncertainty, Unilateral bullying, Vindication, Winner
Financial Times (February 20)
Last year, “China’s global trade surplus in goods surpassed $1tn.” This year, the IMF is calling on China “to slash state support for industry as international concerns mount about overcapacity in the world’s second-largest economy.” The IMF estimates “China spent about 4 per cent of its GDP subsidising companies in critical sectors and said it should reduce that by 2 percentage points in the medium term.”
Tags: $1tn, China, Economy 4%, GDP, Global trade, Goods, IMF, Industry, International concerns, Overcapacity, State support, Subsidizing, Surplus
