At a high-profile global summit held by China this month, there were strong statements directed at the west’s “bullying” as well as renewed calls to stabilise “global governance”. The meeting was the clearest indication yet that China is vying to become a world superpower, aiming to marshal an anti-western bloc. But the foundations of that position partly lie in Africa and the Caribbean, where China has been building relationships for decades. A stable partner or a trap? Iconic modernist space … the Friendship Hall, on the banks of the river…
Tag: Chinese economy
Chinese economy slows amid Trump trade war and weaker consumer spending
China’s economy showed further signs of weakness last month as it comes under strain from Donald Trump’s trade wars and domestic problems, with factory output and consumer spending rising at their slowest pace for about a year. The disappointing data adds pressure on Beijing to roll out more stimulus to fend off a sharp slowdown, with a debt crisis denting the country’s once-booming property sector and exports facing stronger headwinds. Economists were split over whether policymakers should introduce more near-term fiscal support to hit their annual 5% growth target, with…
Evergrande: China’s property giant delisted from Hong Kong stock exchange
Evergrande, formerly one of China’s biggest property developers, has been delisted from the Hong Kong stock exchange, capping the end of a long fall from grace. The company was removed from the exchange on Monday after an 18-month freeze on trading, imposed when the developer – once valued at more than HK$400bn (US$50bn) – was put into liquidation. Liquidators had told investors earlier in August the listing was set to be cancelled and they would not seek a review, after the stock exchange warned the company it had passed the…
The Guardian view on rural China: urbanites contemplate an escape to the country | Editorial
“People gone; buildings empty: this is the fact of daily life in the countryside,” lamented the author Liang Hong in her bestselling account China in One Village. It was a grim portrait of her home town – its vitality ebbing as the forces of modern life drained it of young people, polluted its water, exploited its resources and even turned the local school into a pigsty. Its quarter of a million sales reflected not just her distinctive writing, but the familiarity of the story. As urban China prospered with the…
Swatch pulls ‘slanted eye’ ad after backlash in China
The Swiss watchmaker Swatch has apologised and removed an advert featuring a model pulling the corners of his eyes, after the image prompted accusations of racism and calls for a boycott on Chinese social media. Internet users heavily criticised the “slanted eye” gesture made by the Asian male model as racist. In a post on Instagram and the Chinese social media platform Weibo on Saturday, Swatch acknowledged the “recent concerns regarding the portrayal of a model” in the advert and said it had deleted the promotional material worldwide. “We sincerely…
Why Peak China may finally have arrived | George Magnus
Proclamations about the inevitability of China’s dominance of the global economic system, or the so-called Chinese century, were made long before Donald Trump’s attempts to stymie its trade with the US. Common concerns about coercive politics and human rights aside, some notions of China as an unstoppable economic, technological and military behemoth sit alongside others focused more on an increasingly sclerotic, over- centralised political economy, that depends on wasteful economic stimulus, and features poor governance and institutions. The fusion of these notions suggests that we may already have reached “peak…
China’s overcapacity is creating instability at home and abroad | George Magnus
China’s astounding technological success in mass-producing quality electric vehicles (EVs) sits alongside a serious flaw in its industrial model: overcapacity. It has the capacity to produce about three times as many units as it can sell at home. The consequences so far have included widespread price cutting, large losses, misallocation of capital, and surging low-cost EV exports leading to trade conflict. The bigger problem, though, is that EVs are just a part of a broader overcapacity problem involving a myriad of sectors and products. At home, Chinese overcapacity lies at…
China warns EV makers to stop price-cutting to protect the economy
China is urging its electric vehicle industry to stop cutting prices and rein in production amid fears that persistent deflation is imperilling economic growth. In recent months Chinese officials have talked repeatedly of the need to combat “involution” in sectors suffering from overcapacity, such as EVs, referring to the phenomenon of investing more effort and money for diminishing returns. Xi Jinping has spoken of the problem directly. In an unusually blunt speech this month, China’s president criticised provincial governments for blindly overinvesting in artificial intelligence, in computing power and in…
US and China hold trade talks after Donald Trump eyes ‘world tariff’ – business live
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EU may as well be ‘province of China’ due to reliance on imports, says industrialist
The EU may as well “apply to be a province of China” such is its inability to wean itself off that country’s supply of critical raw materials used in everything from electric vehicles to smartphones and wind turbines, a leading German industrialist has said. As chief executive of AMG Lithium, the EU’s first factory to make the lithium hydroxide used in many car batteries, Stefan Scherer sits at the centre of what has been dubbed a new gold rush. But the chemist said China will continue to dominate battery technology…