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Media Report
May 11 , 2017
  • The New York Times：South Korea's New President Moves to Soothe Tensions With China
    The New York Times reports: "Moon Jae-in, the newly elected leader of South Korea, moved swiftly to mend ties with China on Thursday, announcing plans to dispatch a delegation to Beijing to resolve a festering dispute over the deployment of an American missile-defense system in his country. Easing tensions over the antimissile system was a crucial topic when President Xi Jinping of China called Mr. Moon on Thursday to congratulate him on his election as president two days before...'I am well aware of the concern and fear of the Chinese about the Thaad deployment,' Mr. Moon was quoted as saying when Mr. Xi explained the Chinese stance on the matter. 'I hope both countries can understand each other better on this and will soon open a channel of communication.' During the 40-minute conversation, Mr. Moon revealed his plans to send separate delegations to Beijing to discuss the Thaad dispute and North Korea's nuclear threat...On Thursday, Mr. Moon asked Mr. Xi to help end the Chinese boycott of South Korean goods. 'It will be easier to resolve the Thaad issue when North Korea doesn't do any more provocations,' Mr. Moon said, according to Yoon Young-chan, his spokesman. Mr. Moon has indicted that if China wants to have Thaad removed from South Korea, it should play a more active role in reining in North Korea's nuclear and missile programs."
  • Bloomberg View：China Has World's Biggest Productivity Problem
    Bloomberg View comments: "Just about everybody assumes that China will overtake the U.S. as the world's indispensable economy. One factor, however, could slow its seemingly relentless march and cast doubt on China's prospects for becoming an advanced economy: faltering productivity. Sure, China is advancing daily in wealth, technology and expertise. But nothing is inevitable in economics. As costs rise and the labor force shrinks due to Beijing's decades-long 'one-child' policy, China will need to squeeze a lot more out of each remaining worker to keep incomes growing. If not, China could succumb to a sluggish trajectory that threatens both its future and that of the entire global economy. Despite China's reputation as a paragon of authoritarian efficiency, the country isn't immune to the global trend of dwindling productivity gains. The Conference Board, using adjusted economic growth estimates, figures that Chinese labor productivity rose 3.7 percent in 2015, a precipitous plunge from an average of 8.1 percent annually between 2007 and 2013. (Official Chinese statistics also show productivity growth falling off, although settling at higher rates.)...For the U.S., there is the glimmer of a silver lining. Unless China can lift its productivity, any edge it had over more advanced economies will wither. Boston Consulting Group estimates that when the superior productivity of American workers is taken into account, the costs of manufacturing in China and the U.S. are generally the same. China's failures could make the West's own troubles with productivity a little easier to bear."
  • The Financial Times：China new 'Silk Road' investment falls in 2016
    The Financial Times reports: "Investment in President Xi Jinping's signature 'Belt and Road Initiative' declined last year, according to several measures, raising doubts about whether commercial enterprises are committed to a strategy for a new Silk Road defined as much by geopolitics as by profit-seeking. Twenty-eight heads of state will gather in Beijing this weekend for a conference intended to 'define and actuate' Mr Xi's plans for a 'Silk Road Economic Belt' and a '21st-century Maritime Silk Road', first proposed in 2013...'Big investments, especially overseas, mean that the numbers might not rise every year,' said Xiao Yaqing, chairman of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, which oversees state-owned enterprises. 'Let's not look at year-on-year growth but at the development of the investment and the projects themselves. Over the long term, I believe investment into BRI countries will rise.' Mr Xiao disclosed figures showing that 47 central government-owned SOEs were involved in 1,676 projects in BRI countries. Some bankers and state enterprises complain privately that the government is pressuring them to undertake BRI projects that are unprofitable. 'A lot of SOEs are stuck on this idea that 'the country is making me do it, and I don't want to do it',' said a recently retired senior executive at a large SOE." 
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