In The News

Caixin: China Posts First Trade Deficit in Three Years

Fran Wang and Pan Che March 13, 2017
Political rhetoric blasting global trade from the United States and other countries may slow economic growth in the world’s second largest economy. “China recorded its first trade deficit in three years last month as imports surged on soaring commodity prices while exports declined, likely adding uncertainty to the country’s growth prospects,” reports a team from Caixin. “The surprisingly robust...

Chatham House: China and the WTO

Wim Muller March 10, 2017
By joining the World Trade Organization in 2001, China agreed to dispute settlement processes and compulsory adjudication. “While in other areas, most notoriously the law of the sea, China has been reluctant to accept the decision-making power of international courts and tribunals, its WTO practice has shown that China can accept the jurisdiction of an international judicial body, accept its...

Wall Street Journal: China Draws More Students Back From Abroad

Te-Ping Chen March 2, 2017
More than 500,000 Chinese students studied at foreign universities in 2015 with the United States as the most popular destination followed by the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada. “A rise in incomes and frustration with China’s ultracompetitive education system produced a study-abroad fervor of historic proportions,” reports Te-Ping Chen for the Wall Street Journal. “In recent years, around...

Project Syndicate: How Imports Boost Employment

Anne Krueger March 1, 2017
Trade – even imports – creates jobs in many ways, explains Anne Krueger, a former World Bank chief economist and a senior research professor of International Economics. Jobs include those associated with ports and retail sales as well as foreign direct investment. Companies that save money can direct more effort to innovation and R&D, and with the most efficient goods and services available,...

Financial Times: Trump Team Looks to Bypass WTO Dispute System

Shawn Donnan and Demetri Sevastopulo February 28, 2017
The United States is searching for legal ways to impose unilateral trade sanctions against some countries, including China, as faster and more direct alternatives than the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement process. “Since being established in 1995 the WTO has become the pre-eminent venue for resolving trade fights between member countries, which its proponents say has helped prevent...

Caixin: Chinese Drone Maker to Supply Dubai with Self-Flying Taxis

Coco Feng February 17, 2017
Dubai, with a population of 2.7 million, is the largest city in the United Arab Emirates, and traffic congestion is a major complaint. The Dubai Roads and Transportation Authority is planning to allow remote-controlled drones work as taxis, and Chinese drone maker EHang Inc. announced “it will supply passenger-carrying drones to Dubai, which is aiming to become in July the world’s first city to...

Spiegel: Germany Prepares for Coming Tax Battle

Christian Reiermann February 15, 2017
The United States and the United Kingdom – intent on attracting foreign investment and jobs – may “begin stretching, undermining or completely redefining the internationally established tax framework,” reports Christian Reiermann for Spiegel Online. Finance ministers of the world’s 20 largest economies meet in March, and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble wants to lead a fight against tax...