Category Archives: china

Geithner on China’s Currency Manipulation

Posted on January 23, 2009 by Felix

Tim Geithner’s testimony about China’s currency manipulation is the top story in the world today, judging by the NYT’s front page. And he did indeed say three times in his written responses to the Senate Finance Committee that "President Obama … Continue reading →

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A Smaller World

Posted on December 4, 2008 by Felix

Lou Jiwei, the head of China’s CIC sovereign wealth fund, is saying some interesting things: “Right now we do not have the courage to invest in financial institutions because we do not know what problems they may have,” Mr. Lou … Continue reading →

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Soundbite of the Day, Customer Service Department

Posted on October 2, 2008 by Felix

Tyler Cowen: Bush, Bernanke, Paulson — we call them leaders. The Chinese think of them as the customer service department. I suspect the Chinese get straighter answers from them than we ever do. Related: Alea has an intriguing answer to … Continue reading →

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China’s Wen: “Cooperation is Everything”

Posted on September 29, 2008 by Felix

Chinese prime minister Wen Jiabao spoke to CNN’s Fareed Zakaria while he was in New York for the UN General Assembly last week. He very rarely gives interviews, and this was possibly his most open interview ever. From a financial-markets … Continue reading →

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Chinese iPod Datapoint of the Day

Posted on August 8, 2008 by Felix

From Robert Koopman, Zhi Wang, and Shang-Jin Wei: In trade statistics, the Chinese export value for a unit of a 30GB video model in 2006 was about $150. However, Linden, Kraemer, and Dedrick (2007) estimated the value added attributable to … Continue reading →

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The Beijing Consensus

Posted on June 24, 2008 by Felix

Alex Tabarrok reports on Sino-Syrian relations: "What can we do," the Syrian finance minister asked, "to increase Chinese investment?" "Well," the Chinese minister replied, "before we invest in Syria you most open your markets, cut your subsidies, and reduce regulation…"

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Where are the Chinese Stock-Market Riots?

Posted on June 11, 2008 by Felix

Back in January, in the opening session at Davos, Yu Yongding sounded a warning. Yu also noted political risks in China: there are 150 million small Chinese stock-market investors who are going to be very angry if and when the … Continue reading →

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China (and Inflation) Datapoint of the Day

Posted on May 19, 2008 by Felix

Jim Surowiecki: According to the Yale economist Peter K. Schott, machinery and electronics products made in developed countries sell in the U.S. for four times the average price of Chinese products. And, since the late nineteen-eighties, that price gap has … Continue reading →

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China IPO Datapoint of the Day

Posted on March 6, 2008 by Felix

Helen Thomas keeps an eye on the China Railway IPO: The Hong Kong retail portion of the $5.5bn dual listing was 250 times oversubscribed – representing orders worth about $58bn. And this in a market which is far from surging: … Continue reading →

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China Datapoint of the Day, Aluminum Edition

Posted on February 13, 2008 by Felix

Back in 2004, Alcan put together a slide show on China’s role in the aluminum industry. It included this chart, showing Chinese aluminum consumption from 1960 onwards, and anticipating a rise of 82% between 2004 and 2010, to 7.3 kg … Continue reading →

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Why China Doesn’t Want to Invest in Citigroup

Posted on January 14, 2008 by Felix

The WSJ’s Rick Carew reports today that the Chinese government might prevent the latest proposed injection of Chinese capital into a troubled US institution. For a good backgrounder on where the Chinese government is coming from, it’s worth checking out … Continue reading →

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Sino-African Datapoint of the Day

Posted on January 7, 2008 by Felix

Pascal Zachary: There are roughly 2,000 African students in China, most of whom are pursuing engineering and science courses. According to Juma, that number is expected to double over the next two years, making China “Africa’s leading destination for science … Continue reading →

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China Datapoint of the Day

Posted on November 5, 2007 by Felix

Value of PetroChina on Friday: $456.6 billion. Value of PetroChina on Monday: $1.004 trillion.

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The Citic Flip-Flop

Posted on October 22, 2007 by Felix

On Friday, things seemed clear enough, with Citic issuing a clear denial that it would take an ownership stake in Bear Stearns. China Citic Bank, meanwhile, also denied that it was in talks to buy a stake in Bear Stearns. … Continue reading →

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Chinese Banks: Still Weak

Posted on October 17, 2007 by Felix

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, or ICBC, has a market capitalization of $334 billion, making it by far the most valuable bank in the world. Citigroup, HSBC, and Bank of America are next on the list, worth about $235 … Continue reading →

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China Datapoint of the Day

Posted on October 16, 2007 by Felix

Eight of the 20 biggest public companies in the world, by market capitalization, are Chinese. The US has just seven of the top 20. To put it another way, China Mobile is worth more money than Microsoft, and China Life … Continue reading →

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Inequality Datapoint of the Day

Posted on October 11, 2007 by Felix

From Shanghai-based data group The Hurun Rich List, via Marketwatch: There are currently 106 mainland billionaires, up from 15 last year… The report added that China’s 800 richest individuals have net wealth of $459.3 billion, equivalent to 16% of China’s … Continue reading →

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Paulson Hoist on His Own Petard (Yuan Version)

Posted on August 23, 2007 by Felix

Yves Smith of Naked Capitalism submits: One of the Treasury Department’s big campaigns has been to put pressure on the Chinese to allow the yuan to float more freely (the Chinese now engage in a dirty float in place of … Continue reading →

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Why do the Chinese Want a Blackstone Stake?

Posted on May 21, 2007 by Felix

China is investing $3 billion in Blackstone. Why?
Continue reading →

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