Policy makers hesitant about next step as money supply increases a lot A faster-than-expected increase in money supply and soaring bank credit but modest economic growth is an equation that has left Chinese monetary policy makers puzzled and hesitant about their next step. Any impulse to ease or tighten monetary policy at the moment may lead to irretrievably awful results as economists reveal their helplessness. Robert E. Hall and David [...]

Governments around the world used to employ Chinese construction firms just to build bridges, railways and other infrastructure projects. But now they want them to invest in them and run them too. “In the past, we would just go abroad with machines and technical teams, building what customers wanted and waiting for the payment,” Zhao Hui, who has been working in infrastructure construction in Africa since 1998, told the Global [...]

New initiatives to lift investment in the continent The China-Africa Business Council and the China-Africa Development Fund have decided to set up two new funds this year boost China’s investment in Africa. One fund is for commercial ventures, and the other, for mining activities. Zheng Yuewen, chairman of CABC, which represents the interests of more than 550 Chinese companies in Africa, said each fund will raise $1 billion in its [...]

Summary: The risks associated with leading China’s $500 billion sovereign wealth fund along with internal problems related to how the company is run, are turning the search for a new chairman for CIC into a headache for officials. China’s leaders are anxious to find a new chairman for China Investment Corporation (CIC), the country’s $500 billion sovereign wealth fund. The former head, Lou Jiwei (楼继伟), left the fund after he [...]

Summary: The CCDI will pilot a mechanism for better coordination among provinces when it comes to tracking down lower-level officials who attempt to flee the country. In the past this work has usually been left to central authorities, but as the number of lower-level officials who have fled begins to rise, these agencies haven’t been able to keep up. On May 27, the Chinese Communist Party’s internal anti-corruption agency released [...]

Working as an overseas tour guide for the past decade, Song Xiaobing has made two key observations: more and more Chinese tourists are traveling abroad, meaning he must increasingly ensure they don’t embarrass themselves – or their compatriots. As a senior tour guide working in one of China’s largest travel agencies, China International Travel Service, Song leads dozens of Chinese overseas tour groups each year to destinations in Europe, the [...]

It is, if voluminous press reports are to be believed, the biggest story, the biggest deal, ever in China-US business history. I’m talking about the announced takeover of America’s largest pork company, Smithfield Foods, by a company called Shuanghui International. The deal, it is said in dozens of media reports, opens the China market to US pork and will transform China’s largest pork producer into a global giant selling Smithfield’s [...]

China has moved once again to cut the number of items that require Central Government approval, in a move some say will help create a more efficient and friendly environment for business and help boost economic growth. On May 15, the State Council announced reforms of 133 items that require top-level approval, including rights on investment and production in the economy, which will be delegated to lower-level governments. Just 58 [...]

It seems we are in an age when almost everyone can speak some Chinese. Many non-native speakers are even able to converse with their Chinese friends about xiangsheng, also known as cross talk. Some of them, represented by the household personality Dashan (Mark Rowswell), are taking advantage of their non-Chinese faces but fluent Chinese tongues. It seems to be an encouraging sign that the enthusiasm for learning Chinese has continued [...]

“Peaceful China,” a new government slogan, well captures the Chinese people’s expectations. There is no doubt that it will acquire nation-wide support, but what really matters is how to consolidate this vision. In a narrow sense, “peaceful China” can be interpreted as people’s expectation that Chinese public security can be improved. But in a broad sense, this includes other connotations, such as people’s hopes that they can eat safe food, [...]