More Cutting Out The Waste

A bit, if only a bit, more flesh on the skeleton of regulations being put in place to curb polluters:  a state database of companies that violate environmental rules is being set up, according to Zhang Lijun, vice director of the State Environmental Protection Agency; greater cooperation with the commerce ministry to supervise exporters is [...]

Car Parts

While General Motors was making play of its $250 million investment in an R&D plant in Shanghai to develop green auto technologies, China’s auto-parts makers were headed for its home turf.  At the end of last week, some of the leading ones gathered in Detroit for a mini-trade fair to promote Chinese made auto parts. [...]

Bohai Buys Pipe

China’s home-grown hedge fund, Bohai, has made its first investment. It is paying 1.5 billion yuan ($201 million) for a minority stake in Tianjin Pipe Group, according to the Asian Wall Street Journal. The deal is likely to be announced later this week.
Tianjin Pipe is China’s leading maker of steel pipe for use in oil [...]

Cutting Out The Waste

What to make of news, reported by AFX, that parliament has passed a draft law to make industry less wasteful of energy?
Typically, little more than the intent is defined. Companies will face an energy audit to see if they comply with as yet unknown energy-saving targets. There will be caps on unit energy consumption for [...]

New Boss In Shanghai

Yu Zhengsheng is the new party boss in Shanghai following Xi Jinping’s promotion to the politburo standing committee. Yu was previously party boss in Hubei province.
Like his predecessor Yu is a princeling — the offspring of a revolutionary veteran. In his case, he has particularly colorful history. His father was the first party boss in [...]

Making Waves

Sign of the (increasingly prosperous) times: China has staged its first international racing regatta, the China Cup on Oct 19-21. Yachting needs monied entrepreneurs even more than it needs water. It is a rich man’s sport and 20 of the 62 participating teams were from China.
It is only two years since Jianmin Qui, chairman of [...]

Is The Credit Crunch A Prelude To A Crash In China?

Interesting question posed by John Plender in the FT a couple of days ago : Is the credit crunch a prelude to a crash in China?
History suggests, Plender argues, that it could well be. He says that the credit crunch is a symptom of the liquidity bubble in China — a hiccough in  a huge [...]

Banking On South Africa

They used to say of the British empire that trade follows the flag — and that the bankers were never far behind both. So, too, it seems with China.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is to take a 20% stake in South Africa’s Standard Bank, Africa’s largest, according to various reports. It is paying $5.5 [...]

Another Point Of Hu

Oxford Analytica offers a contrarian take on the recently concluded 17th party congress. It argues that the new line up of the politburo will limit President Hu Jintao’s power, rather than consolidate it. Not sure I agree in this case, but I like OxAn’s work, so this piece is worth the read. (Link is [...]

Moon Shot

China’s long-awaited moon shot is about to happen. The AP reports that China National Space Administration officials say the Chang’e 1 lunar orbiter will be launched between October 24th and 26th.
As I noted in August, a successful flight will add China to an elite club of nations that have sent a spacecraft around the moon [...]