Does China’s debt, which refuses to stop growing, threaten to take the show off the road?
China roundup: APEC agreements; Alibaba’s Single’s Day Sale Booty; and a New Bankruptcy Law
This week, the much awaited APEC conference came to a close, Alibaba netted more than $9.3 billion in Single’s Day sales; and Xiaomi announced its intent to invest in Youku-Tudou.
China Roundup: The Chinese economy and structural changes; Baidu Eye; and Apple’s New Problem
This week, figures from the HSBC/Markit PMI implied that the Chinese economy might finally be on the path to the much-need structural change; local government financing got a new breather; and Baidu launched its Google Glass competitor, Baidu Eye. The Broader Picture Last week, a flash Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) reading from HSBC and Markit […]
The Role of Land Sales in Local Government Financing in China
Land sales contribute significantly to local government financing in China as well as provincial GDP targets. But this is both unsustainable and problematic. A look at the situation and the kind of reform that needs to kick in. Last month, China launched a national audit of the “land-transferring fees” collected by local governments in the […]
Real Estate in China: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
What ails real estate in China? Are we heading for a property market crash? Does the government need to step in and save the day? In this wide-ranging interview, CKGSB professor Liu Jing, an expert on the real estate market, analyzes the situation in China’s real estate sector. China bears have never been this close […]
Local Government Debt in China
Local government debt in China is spinning out of control. A look at the most indebted cities in China and the size of their debts. Nearly everyone agrees that China has a serious local debt problem, some would even call it a crisis, one which the State Council addressed in a highly anticipated report released last summer. […]
Big Data Analytics: What’s the Big Deal?
China has the will to leverage big data analytics, it just needs to hone the way. Much and more has been made of how the multi-billion dollar ‘big data’ industry might play out in China, where the sheer size of China’s various consumer markets belie a seemingly massive potential for this particular brand of information […]
Joint Liability of Platform Loans
Despite the fact that local governments avoid paying debts, banks do not have sufficiently powerful means to regulate debtors. It remains doubtful whether or not the central government will be able to repay the debts. Therefore, it is inappropriate to presume the safety of platform loans with the argument that “the government will assume joint […]
Doing Business with China: The Power of Local
The experience of multinational companies shows that succeeding in doing business with China depends on a good understanding of local needs and wants. Time and time again, the group buying company Groupon has found itself in hot water in China. Before Groupon’s Chinese site Gaopeng even launched, China’s group buying sites formed a loose alliance against the firm […]
To succeed in China, align with government policy
Much of the west, especially the US, once imagined itself as a land of freewheeling enterprise: the gods of the marketplace reigned supreme and government was a minor obstacle on the path to glorious riches. Since the outbreak of the financial crisis, cracks have appeared in this vision, sometimes known as the Washington consensus, as […]
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