Brazil’s President Lula Kicks Off Official Visit in Shanghai

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva arrived in Shanghai on his way to a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing later this week. His time in Shanghai will include attending the inauguration of former Brazilian president and Lula ally Dilma ...

Getting Currency Swaps Right: How China is Filling the Void Left by the West

By Kevin Gallagher, Marina Zucker-Marques and Barbara Fritz A recent World Bank paper­ – widely echoed by financial outlets – has raised concerns about a supposed Chinese “emerging system of cross-border bailouts”, composed mostly of currency swap agreements. To the authors, Chinese swaps are opaque and costly, ...

How Does Africa Get the Tech It Needs?

As geopolitical tensions rise, external partners want a say in African development choices. This is particularly true for digital expansion, where Global South countries are frequently framed as battlegrounds between Chinese companies like Huawei and Western competitors. However, African policymakers are gaining ...

China is Increasingly Determined to “De-Dollarize” Its International Trade

When Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim went to Malaysia's parliament this week to brief lawmakers on his recent trip to China, he emphasized his discussions with President Xi Jinping about transitioning away from relying solely on the U.S. dollar for trade. “There ...

Mixed Views in the Chinese Discourse About the Rise of the Yuan and Fall of the Dollar

A similar split of opinions exists in China as in the West between experts who see greater yuan internationalization economically and those who frame the issue in geopolitical terms. These differences of opinion are playing out this week across different Chinese ...

Ford Teams Up With Chinese, Indonesian Companies in Nickel Venture

The Ford Motor Company is teaming up with Indonesia's PT Vale and Chinese mining giant Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt to buy the Pomalaa nickel processing plant in Indonesia. The $4.5 billion venture deepens the U.S.-automaker's stake in the battery metal supply chain in ...

South Africa Hosts Trade Discussions With Chongqing, One of China’s Largest Industrial Cities

The Southwestern Chinese industrial mega-city Chongqing hosted a delegation from South Africa last week to discuss how the two sides can further increase the $600 million of trade the two sides did last year.  The event highlights how sub-national actors like ...

Sino-Canadian Copper Mining Venture in the DRC Generates $434 Million in Profit

Canadian mining giant Ivanhoe released its 2022 full-year earnings on Monday that revealed the company made a robust profit of $434 million from the Kamoa-Kakula copper mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which it jointly operates with Chinese mining major Zijin Mining Group.

Does the Private Sector Matter to Xi’s Foreign Economic Policy?

Elisa Gambino, Global Development Institute On Monday, Xi Jinping visited national political advisors from the China National Democratic Construction Association and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce who are attending the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference ...

Controversial China Square Shopping Mall Re-Opens in Nairobi, Prompting Heated Debate About Chinese Imports

Nearly two weeks after being shuttered due to protests from competing traders, China Square, a Nairobi shop selling inexpensive Chinese imports, is back in business. This follows talks between the Kenyan authorities and the local Chinese chamber of commerce. It seems that ...

Kenyan Merchants and Consumers Face Off Over Chinese Imports

Kenyan traders staged a street protest against Chinese competitors they say are undercutting them. This follows the targeting of China Square by Trade Secretary Moses Kuria. The popular new Chinese-run store offers imported products at prices 50% lower than traders.

Countries in Asia and the Americas Account For Half of China’s Total Auto Exports

China is on the verge of displacing Germany to become the world's second-largest auto exporting nation (Japan is #1). This is a remarkable accomplishment given the speed that China's automakers have gained international market share, tripling sales to 2.5 million units since 2020.
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