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With so many articles about China that came out on Friday and over the weekend, we collected a few that you will not want to miss:
Economics
- Yesterday’s Lima agreement was inspired by the Obama-Xi deal from last month. We expressed hope about that deal in November.
- The New York Times reported: “the catalyst for the [Lima] deal was a joint announcement last month in Beijing by President Obama and President Xi Jinping of China that the world’s two largest greenhouse gas polluters would limit their emissions”.
- Here is a skeptical take from Rebeca Leber, and here is Jeff Goodell with some more background on the Sino-US climate negotiations.
- Last week, Ryan Rutkowski and Kevin Stahler looked at the trends in energy production in China. (More on the number of new nuclear power projects in China.)
- Over at VoxEU a few days ago, Lant Pritchett and Lawrence Summers questioned the existence of a “middle-income trap” and also warned that “there is a significant risk of a major growth slowdown in China at some point over the next decade.”
- Linda Yueh writes about the deflationary pressures in China.
- Michael Pettis gives his opinion on the future of China’s currency. He also says that reduced PBoC purchases of US government bonds are likely to be net positive.
- The Economist writes that China’s soaring stock market is a nightmare for those in charge of monetary policy.
- The Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, an annual meeting to discuss investment issues and commercial opportunities between China and the US, starts tomorrow in Chicago.
- China Food and Drug Administration tested bottled water and reported that 23% of tested products were polluted. (Source 2)
- A review of China’s system of national accounts finds that China is “converging toward international best practice.” The early estimates of 2014 GDP are scheduled to be released in late January. (Kent Troutman wrote earlier about the estimated impact of R&D capitalization on China’s GDP.)
- Deutsche Bank reported on Friday that at least Germany saw at least 22 Chinese M&A deals have been registered in Germany (but their total value is unknown). Earlier this year, we wrote China’s growing economic ties with the European Union.
- Will China get “market-economy status” at the WTO in 2016? Cecilia Malmstrom doesn’t want to say just yet.
Soft power
