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Category Archives: China
Chinese Companies Moving into the World Market… Responsibly?
Two decades after it began opening up to the world, China devised the “Going Out” strategy in the late 1990s to encourage Chinese companies to operate on a global scale. China’s outbound direct investment (ODI) has surged, reaching a staggering total of US$68 billion in 2010—over five percent of global FDI flows. Chinese ODI has targeted all sectors of the world economy, with a marked presence in the resource and infrastructure sectors, and in developing regions like Africa and Southeast Asia where bilateral and multilateral partnerships with the People’s Republic are deepening. Continue reading
Posted in China
Tagged Corporate Social Responsbility, FDI, International trade, investment, ODI
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China and the Global Order (Video Interview with Professor Rosemary Foot)
Chinese conceptions of global order are neither well defined nor agreed upon. Many Chinese intellectuals debate what Chinese preferences should be regarding a global order, and the future role of China within it. These scholars are putting forward new ideas often based on Confucianism or Chinese historical experience. However, this academic debate is not reflected in government statements or policy. We see no clear promotion of a coherent concept of a global order, differing from what we currently see, articulated by the Chinese government. What is clear is that China seeks more voice and more representation. Issues such as G20 membership are increasingly important to China. There may be revisions around the edges of Chinese global preferences, but China overall is not demonstrating that it is a dissatisfied power. Continue reading
Posted in China
Tagged academic debate, Global Order, hegemony, international relations, norms
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Journalism in China: Impacting Policy in a Changing Media Landscape (Video Interview with Melissa Chan)
Currently a John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University, and former China correspondent for Al Jazeera, journalist Melissa Chan discusses the changing media landscape in China and the role played by foreign correspondents. Continue reading
Gender and Ethnic Tensions in Western China
The March 2013 sentencing of 20 Uyghur men in Xinjiang, China, on terrorism- and separatism- related charges highlights ongoing frictions in China’s far west. Amid China’s media censorship and practice of conflating some peaceful resistance or ordinary crimes with terrorist activities, full details of these events remain unknown. What is clear is the persistence of ethnic tensions, also illustrated during protests and riots in the region in 2009. Continue reading
Posted in China
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Lotteries vs. Auctions: China’s Experiments in Managing Automobile Growth
The astronomical growth in the number of private cars in China has led to very visible environmental crises and congestion. But the nationwide increase conceals crucial policy differences between cities that influence effectiveness, revenue, efficiency, equity and public acceptance. While Shanghai and Beijing each had approximately 2 million motor vehicles in 2004, by 2010 Beijing had 4.8 million versus Shanghai’s 3.1 million. By 2011, 38% of Beijing households were vehicle owners in contrast to 18% in Shanghai. Two decades ago Shanghai opted for a monthly license auction to control vehicle ownership, while Beijing had few controls over usage or ownership until the run up to the 2008 Olympics. Continue reading
Posted in China
Tagged cars, congestion, environment, growth, hukou, licence, markets, middle class, pollution
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Overhauling China’s Organ Transplant System
At a WHO conference in 2005, China’s vice-minister of health Huang Jiefu became the first public official to admit the country’s reliance on organs from executed inmates, and promised a transition to a voluntary donation system. A pilot for such a system has established a donation network set to expand this year, fixing the disorderly arrangements that have long been criticized by international health and human rights organizations. Continue reading
Posted in China
Tagged black market, health, institutions, medical tourism, organ donation, public health, reform
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Why are Foreign Mining Companies Retreating from China?
In the 1990s, China opened up the country’s vast mineral resources to international investment. Over the past decade, it has reformulated its mining legislation to attract foreign companies into the Chinese mining sector with the hope of speeding up its modernization. Between 2001 and 2004 the number of foreign mining projects quickly increased from 150 to 279. But by 2010, this number had declined to 92. International firms continue to feel stymied by an inconsistent and convoluted mining policy and their inability to create relationships of trust with local mining stakeholders. Continue reading
Methamphetamine Smuggling along the Myanmar-China Border Threatens Local Communities
The Golden Triangle, the mountainous region bordering Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand, is known as a major centre for drug production. Since Khun Sa, kingpin of the region’s heroin trade, was forced into retirement in 1996, large-scale production of methamphetamine has developed along the Myanmar-China border. Unlike heroin, methamphetamine can be created from commercially available chemicals, commonly found in cold and flu medications. The easy availability of raw materials means that the profits generated from the production of methamphetamine are higher than those from heroin. Continue reading
Posted in China, Myanmar
Tagged child exploitation, drug production, drug smuggling, Drugs, local conflict
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Collective Protests in China and India: Unexpected Similarity?
Collective protests against corruption and land grabs are widespread in both China and India. The official Chinese Academy of Social Sciences reported that the government spent $110 billion on containing these and related popular protests in 2011, more than the defense budget. Many argue that disruptive protests erupt because there are no effective institutional channels, such as the judiciary, for expressing grievances in China. However, in neighboring India, the world’s biggest democracy where such channels do exist, people similarly express their discontent through disruptive protests. Though not yet systematically counted, disruptions, both violent and non-violent, are an essential characteristic of Indian democracy. Continue reading
Posted in China, India
Tagged comparison, democracy, legitimacy, political regime, protests
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China’s Liberalizing Impact on Global Commodity Markets
Memo #195 – China played a key part in the recent collapse of the iron ore pricing regime. This was an unintended consequence of a mix of bold negotiating tactics and competing domestic interests, which made it difficult to implement a consistent international procurement policy. Chinese actions destabilized global market institutions and paradoxically caused their liberalization. Continue reading
Posted in Canada, China
Tagged commodity markets, natural resources, negotiaton, political science, state investments, trade
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