As reports emerge – out of thick smog in Beijing – of worries about the 2008 Olympics (despite over US$10 billion being spent on pollution control measures), China has announced a major environmental clean-up project, with investment of US$14.5 billion. IHT reports: “The 108.5 billion yuan (US$14.5 billion; €10 billion) plan to clean up Lake [...]

China’s trade surplus is a frequently quoted figure, but it is only one of the fast-moving economic indicators coming out of China. The latest batch of stats shows no sign of a slow down. The following reports come from Forbes, and are from a source at the National Development and Reform Commission (“NDRC”): • GDP: [...]

It was only in July that China’s mobile phone numbers passed the 500 million mark. Now it is reported that the number will reach 540 million by the end of the year – and that falling prices will lead to greater penetration of smartphones. It is no wonder then that China Mobile stocks have been [...]

The “Bra Wars” of 2005 seem a long way off, but discussions have been going on in the background. Now it seems that the EU has agreed to end quota restrictions, and to set up a joint monitoring system for a year from 2008. Hopefully more stable development – and free trade – will follow. [...]

The go global push has created a lot of controversy in relation to resources in the past, but more recently the focus has been on the impact of China’s investment into financial services firms (a flow of money that has traditionally gone the other way). Further to reports on Chinese stakes in Blackstone and Barclay’s, [...]

Bloomberg reports on the latest for China’s trade surplus: “China’s trade surplus jumped 56 percent in September to $23.9 billion, adding pressure on the central bank to increase borrowing costs and let the yuan strengthen faster to prevent the economy overheating. The gap widened from $15.3 billion a year earlier, the customs bureau said on [...]

With the many column inches dedicated to dangerous / poisonous / badly designed / recalled toys that were “made in China”, one might think that there was a global crisis, with children suffering from every interaction with their Thomas tank engines, Pooh bears and other favorite playthings. However, while the risks are obvious, the actual [...]

Barclays was a bit of a dark horse in China until recently when, suddenly it was the recipient of the mainland’s “go global” largesse and received US$7 billion in investment from China Development Bank. But it seems the benefits go further than that, it has now been announced (as reported in the FT) that Barclays [...]

A recent post pointed to US$200 billion being invested abroad by the state investment fund, but there is plenty of other money seeking an overseas home. The Hong Kong Trade Development Council updates the “going global” story: “According to a latest government statistical gazette, in 2006 China’s net outbound investment reached US$21.16 billion and the [...]

While the Hong Kong Standard last week reported on “Market madness”, it seems that punters are not too concerned about any bubble being burst. This week has seen new records for China’s A-shares. According to Forbes on Wednesday: “The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed up 55.57 points or 0.97 pct at a record 5,771.46” But [...]