Media reported widely the 6.8% GDP growth over the first quarter of 2018 in China, but economist Arthur Kroeber wonders what such a number actually means. Also: the impact of the announced US tariffs on Chinese products would hardly make a dent in economic growth, he tells the South China Morning Post.Read More →

The current trade frictions between China and the US are here to stay for the time being, says renowned economist Arthur Kroeber, author of China’s Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know®. Neither of the two countries will or even can afford to give in to the other, he tells the South China Morning Post.Read More →

US president Donald Trump has been going aggressively after China as a trade partner. But is it working? Political analyst Sara Hsu does not think so, she explains in Forbes.”From the Boston tea party to the Smoot Hawley tariffs imposed during the Great Depression, protectionist measures have always imposed far higher costs than benefits.”Read More →

China has been leapfrogging into the digitization of the consumer industry but is now moving into the established manufacturing too. Economist Arthur Kroeber, author of China’s Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know® looks at the progress, and potential barriers for robotizing China’s factories. Arthur Kroeber is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau.Read More →

US president Donald Trump is not necessarily wrong when confronting China on trade, but he has to realize he cannot solve the issue by himself, without allies, writes China veteran Harry Broadman in Forbes. “Mr. Trump’s insistence on handling China in a U.S. ‘go-it-alone’ manner is just plain wrong-headed.”Read More →

Very slowly the dreadful verdict of China’s approximately 30 million left-behind children on the country-side is slowly getting more coverage. Journalist Zhang Lijia, preparing a book on the issue, summarizes the problems for the New York Times. Why have they been forgotten?Read More →

The appointment of Liu He as president Xi Jinping’s economic top man has started speculations on his political direction, including a restart of reforms. We should not expect Liu to divert too much from the state-driven economic agenda Xi has already set out in the past few years, says leading economist Arthur Kroeber, author of China’s Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know® to the New York Times.Read More →

Foreign companies would watch in fear media campaigns at China’s consumers day in the past. But this Thursday, consumer day will be a backdrop for upcoming months of tensions, now a trade war is looming, says business analyst Shaun Rein, author of The War for China’s Wallet: Profiting from the New World Order to Bloomberg.Read More →

The disruption caused by trade tensions is not going to give the US more market share for American companies, says leading economist Arthur Kroeber, author of China’s Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know® to Bloomberg. And that is not what the US wants: “The USTR is not trying to bargain with Beijing: it is trying to force a deep change in behavior.”Read More →

Chinese insurance and investment conglomerate Fosun International snapped up Brazilian asset manager Guide Investimentos for US$52 million on Tuesday, reversing a trend of disinvestment after the central government came after conglomerates with excessive outbound investments. Shaun Rein, author of The War for China’s Wallet: Profiting from the New World Order, explains in the South China Morning Post why Brazil is such a popular destination.Read More →

President Xi Jinping is likely to extend his tenure beyond two terms, by changing the constitution. That is basically good news for investors, tells the economist Arthur Kroeber, author of China’s Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know® to Bloomberg. Although in the long run, there might be some caveats.Read More →