LONDON | The euro area continued to run a small trade surplus up to March. This is encouraging on account of stronger import prices, led by energy, in the first quarter of the year. But a closer look into the volumes suggests that import volumes are weakening. Estimates from Barclays Capital analysts put the declining at around 1% in January to March 2012 from the same period in 2011, after a…
BEIJING | In a rather competitive environment like China, the Spanish CEO Pedro Fajardo managed to be the very first one in his field by identifying a niche with a big market such the Spanish language. With 100% Spanish capital and without relying in external financial sources, he built Chinaempleo.com by using savings, bank lending as well as revenues from their site and advertising. In less than 2 years the site…
BEIJING | The question on whether China’s economy is expanding or contracting is like answering whether the glass is half full or half empty. The positive official reading signals that there’s no need to worry. With its PMI index calculated after a sample of more than 800 big (and state-owned) companies, PMI is on the rise and above the 50% for the fifth consecutive month. Conversely, HSBC’s reading doesn’t seem to…
A curated selection of links we hope can enlighten us all; some come from our corner, some do from other corners of the net. And as always, our comment widgets are anxious to get your suggestions. Oh no, one more bubble!!! The problem with the euro: it isn’t sexy We need oil speculators, actually Derivatives are dangerous, how many times do we have to say this? China has workforce difficulties, too…
BEIJING | The rise and fall of the entrepreneurial community in the Chinese city of Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, is an example of the consequences attached to moves such lowering the GDP growth under the 8% without coupling this measure with an strategy that ensures a sustained level of growth. Known by its entrepreneurial society, the city’s businessmen panicked when they couldn’t repay the money they borrowed in the first hand to…
BEIJING | By the year 2020, private consumption will account for a 45% of the GDP (33% in 2010) becoming the main driver of growth of the Chinese economy. This significant increase will be due to a change in consumption patterns, as it is noticed in a report recently released by McKinsey consultancy group “Meet the 2020 Chinese consumer”. But how to fit consumption into the busy schedule of the ideal…
BEIJING | China’s belief that its model of development is legitimate is grounded on the fact that last decades’ rampant economic growth has been possible thanks to the very characteristics that define it. The leadership was convinced that, under such path, success was granted regardless of the fact that they were ignoring certain factors linked to aperture and development. They did not consider defining points as long as there was…
MADRID | As the daily newspaper El Economista published Friday, China has been intensifying its landing in Spain and has set its sight, among many other things, on the financial sector. A year and a half after the first bank of the Asian giant landed, the Bank of China, which ranks the third, has set its first step in Spain. The entity has obtained the authorisation to operate through its division established…
For months now the Spanish and international press have been announcing an imminent salvage of the battered European economy by the Chinese. What seems to be true is that it is something that is never confirmed, just rumours, no actual, concrete action on the part of China. This is the idea that is floating around the City in London and among the Anglo-Saxon commentators, especially among those who most favour…
The happiness of Beijing residents is in recession for the fourth consecutive year. The reasons behind such state of mind are not exclusive of the Chinese capital and they represent the challenges the Communist Party will have to face during the year that has just begun in China. In Europe, the year 2012 exudes pessimism. Conversely, according to Chinese astrology, the symbolism attached to this mythological animal will bring power…