The Economist (March 9)
Interest in Africa is booming. “Outsiders have noticed that the continent is important and becoming more so, not least because of its growing share of the global population (by 2025 the UN predicts that there will be more Africans than Chinese people). Governments and businesses from all around the world are rushing to strengthen diplomatic, strategic and commercial ties. This creates vast opportunities. If Africa handles the new scramble wisely, the main winners will be Africans themselves.”
Tags: Africa, Booming, Businesses, China, Diplomatic, Governments, Population, Strategic, UN
MarketWatch (March 8)
“Car makers are facing a perfect storm of trade tariffs, slumping demand in the crucial Chinese market, and a backlash against diesel, which are together having a seismic effect on businesses. A shift toward electric and autonomous vehicles has not helped. They require vast investment and a different way of thinking.” Instead of the usual “corporate grins” at the Geneva Motor Show, there is “a collective grimace.”
Tags: Backlash, Car makers, China, Diesel, EVs, Geneva Motor Show, Grimace, Investment, Perfect storm, Slumping demand, Trade tariffs
Washington Post (March 8)
“Thursday’s about-face sounded alarms about a global slowdown that caught officials off guard.” On Thursday, the ECB “unveiled a new economic rescue package, citing a darkening outlook driven by a slowdown in China, fears that the United Kingdom will make a chaotic exit from the European Union and aftershocks from President Trump’s tariff wars.”
Tags: About-face, Alarms, Brexit, China, ECB, EU, Global slowdown, Rescue package, Tariff wars, Trump, UK
Reuters (February 28)
“Factory activity in China contracted to a three-year low in February as export orders fell at the fastest pace since the global financial crisis, highlighting deepening cracks in an economy facing weak demand at home and abroad.”
Tags: China, Cracks, Economy, Exports, Factory, Financial Crisis, Orders, Weak demand
Washington Examiner (February 25)
“President Trump indefinitely postponed hiking tariffs on China” for one obvious reason. “Trump, or at least his advisers, seem to understand that progress on North Korea cannot be made without China’s support. And that support, of course, is unlikely to be born out of hostile trade disputes and demands to essentially rewrite China’s economic model, which the Trump administration has made clear are goals of trade negotiations with Beijing.”
BBC (February 21)
“Chinese President Xi Jinping last year officially opened a bridge connecting Hong Kong to Macau and the mainland Chinese city of Zhuhai—the world’s longest sea crossing bridge—as part of China’s plan to connect Greater Bay Area.” This ambitious plan seeks to spur economic development and “lays out strategic visions for the major cities in the region to become hubs in different sectors.” For example, “Hong Kong would strengthen its status as a finance and trade hub” while Shenzhen would be a tech hub and “Macau would focus on tourism.” An impressive plan, but “analysts question whether its lofty goals can be achieved.”
Tags: Ambitious, China, Finance, Greater Bay Area, Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen, Tech hub, Trade, Xi, Zhuhai
South China Morning Post (January 22)
“Trump’s aggressive trade actions have also made investors much more sensitive to China’s domestic economic woes, a development which Trump doubtless views as a sign that his administration is winning the trade war but which has backfired due to the adverse spillover effects on America’s economy and markets…. A trade truce, should one materialise, has come too late.”
Tags: Aggressive, Backfired, China, Economy, Investors, Markets, Sensitive, Trade war, Truce, Trump, U.S.
Washington Post (January 15)
“China’s drive to acquire cutting-edge weaponry and establish itself as a global military power poses an increasing threat to American defense superiority.”
Tags: China, Cutting edge, Defense, Military power, Superiority, Threat, U.S., Weaponry
Bloomberg (January 11)
“Trade wars, China’s slowdown, erratic stock markets: The outlook is getting grimmer for an increasing number of companies across the globe.”
Tags: China, Erratic, Grimmer, Outlook, Slowdown, Stock markets, Trade wars
CNN (January 3)
“Evidence is mounting that the US-China trade war is dealing a blow to the American stock market. Stocks plunged on Thursday after Apple (AAPL) blamed a big sales miss on slowing growth in China and rising trade tensions. China’s massive manufacturing sector… has tumbled into contraction. And trade trouble helped fuel the biggest one-month decline in US factory activity since the Great Recession.”
Tags: Apple, China, Contraction, Decline, Evidence, Great Recession, Growth, Manufacturing, Plunged, Stock market, Tensions, Trade war, U.S.
