China, beware

Mycket läsvärt om Kina i The Economist.

En ledare under rubriken "China, beware".

Om den pågående partikongressen:

"Early this year a party journal, Study and Pursuit, published proposals for reforming the party- congress system. These included convening congresses annually, imposing a 50% limit on the proportion of delegates who hold official rank and electing fewer delegates, in order to cut costs and encourage genuine debate (of which there is currently none). This year the number of delegates has actually been increased by more than 100 compared with 2002. So the applause for Mr Hu will be even louder."

En viktig faktor rörande Kina och Kinas relationer med omvärlden är lanseringen av The Chinese Investment Corp. (CIC). Läs mer på ISN Security Watch:

"With an initial endowment of US$200 billion the new state-controlled company is tasked to invest abroad China's huge foreign reserves. (...) In the shopping bag there will be natural resources from developing countries as well as foreign technologies, research and development (R&D) establishments and brand names from developed economies. For the west, China's new financial juggernaut will be a formidable opportunity, and a formidable challenge."

Utmaningen omfattar alla, men kanske i det korta perspektivet synnerhet Afrika:

"In Africa, China's investment strategy has been directed mainly at sourcing natural resources, including oil. Moreover, increasing numbers of Chinese companies have recently established production bases to supply local markets with cheap products highly compatible with local demand and purchasing power. As a result, total trade between China and Africa nearly quadrupled in six years, from US$10.8 billion in 2000 to nearly US$40 billion in 2006. China is today Africa's biggest trading partner and the second most important investor. China's new investment company will further boost these trends."