> The Chinese state will never be satisfied being one powerful economic actor amongst others, all playing by the rules of a global market. They will never accept being checked by laws of trade or other country's interests, any more than they will tolerate being checked by democratic accountability or rule of law. The same could be said about the US i guess. It's the EU that looks like a naive child on the World Stage…
> World Stage Come again? Try switching off the news for a while. The world doesn't need an elite to run, the plebes run it just fine. There isn't a "World Stage".
So you say that the trade policies of nations and trade unions like the EU are not actions and positions that have to be viewed in their respective geopolitical climate?
> The Chinese state will never be satisfied being one powerful economic actor amongst others, all playing by the rules of a global market. They will never accept being checked by laws of trade or other country's interests, any more than they will tolerate being checked by democratic accountability or rule of law. The same could be said about the US i guess. It's the EU that looks like a naive child on the World Stage…
There are very few practical problems for foreign companies to establish, operate, and sometimes dominate in the U.S. market.
Sure, but good luck trying to sue the USG for war crimes at the ICC in Den Haag.
When the Czech republic and other ex-soviet states dropped communism and started "moving west", the west greeted these countries with open arms and a chorus of "opening your countries up to foreign investments will spur growth and make your economies flower!" The Czech Republic responded, by allowing foreign investments essentially without reservations. This lead to a highly corrupt fire sale, called the "privatizati…
At the same time, there is a similar smell of unfairness. Chineese companies a free to invest in the west, but western companies aren't free to invest in China. China is like "we're all for free trade, but no, Google can't buy Baidu" or whatever.
When the Czech republic and other ex-soviet states dropped communism and started "moving west", the west greeted these countries with open arms and a chorus of "opening your countries up to foreign investments will spur growth and make your economies flower!" The Czech Republic responded, by allowing foreign investments essentially without reservations. This lead to a highly corrupt fire sale, called the "privatizati…
At the same time, there is a similar smell of unfairness. Chineese companies a free to invest in the west, but western companies aren't free to invest in China. China is like "we're all for free trade, but no, Google can't buy Baidu" or whatever.
Firms in China also have massive state subsidies due to currency controls and bank funding requirements.
In the 1980s Japan went on an international buying spree only to see its economy crash in the late 80s/90s. Eventually even government supported economies crash, and when that happens Chinese companies may regret being so aggressively acquisitive.
When the Czech republic and other ex-soviet states dropped communism and started "moving west", the west greeted these countries with open arms and a chorus of "opening your countries up to foreign investments will spur growth and make your economies flower!" The Czech Republic responded, by allowing foreign investments essentially without reservations. This lead to a highly corrupt fire sale, called the "privatizati…
The same happened in Poland (and other countries from behind the Iron Curtain). Most stuff here has German or French owners now.
Do you live in Poland? I live in Prague, and here, I'm surprised at how little people care about the foreign investment aspect of the privatization process. Even though almost everyone complains that it is corrupt, people here are mostly pro-west. The economy is strong here, and people don't see a big problem. Sure, we were among the richest countries in Europe pre WWII, but that was a long time ago, and people are now used to being relatively poor. But outside of Prague, especially on the Moravian side of the country I think opinions are very different, and many people actively say that "communism was better" and that the west has robbed the country. It is true, that heavy industry, like the car maker škoda auto (Now owned by VW), and the slevarny (metal making firms that are owned by the west), and the coal mines(owned by the Swiss) are all outside of Prague... Do Pols realise the extent that they were robbed?
When the Czech republic and other ex-soviet states dropped communism and started "moving west", the west greeted these countries with open arms and a chorus of "opening your countries up to foreign investments will spur growth and make your economies flower!" The Czech Republic responded, by allowing foreign investments essentially without reservations. This lead to a highly corrupt fire sale, called the "privatizati…
This is one of the reasons why Europe is falling apart. The hidden cynical double standard always trumped good will. Brexit voters were unusually open (in a secret ballot) about east-west relationships.
Dear downvoter:
The production and exports of cars, run by foreign owners, is a key driver of economic growth in the eastern European Union member where wages for skilled workers are well below Western European levels.
Daimler workers in Germany, where wages are much higher, took part in strikes earlier this year, which led to a deal in May to lift wages by 4.8 percent in the metal and electrical engineering sectors in Germany.
The same happened in Poland (and other countries from behind the Iron Curtain). Most stuff here has German or French owners now.
Do you live in Poland? I live in Prague, and here, I'm surprised at how little people care about the foreign investment aspect of the privatization process. Even though almost everyone complains that it is corrupt, people here are mostly pro-west. The economy is strong here, and people don't see a big problem. Sure, we were among the richest countries in Europe pre WWII, but that was a long time ago, and people are n…
China is practicing the economic equivalent of embrace (buy Western technology), extend (their own 3G standards for instance), and eventually extinguish (locking the West out of their market). As private individuals, we don't mind being bought out by Chinese. As members of societies, I believe it is important to know that there is a concerted plan by China that is at best neutral, and at worst, hostile to Western eco…
Total corporate debt in China currently sits at $18 trillion; more than 160% of GDP. That simple fact undermines the argument; there is no conspiracy here about trying to dominate external markets through acquisition; it's just basic economics playing out on a scale (and velocity) we've never seen before.
China is full of zombie construction companies that are worthless investments; Large businesses in China are trying to diversify as fast as possible (often to a laughable extent) and this is mostly fueled by debt. All this will come to a head in 2017-18.
This seems to ignore the main objection. It's not that Chinese companies are investing in European economies, it's that these companies are run by the Chinese state, and that China is not providing reciprocal access to its own market to Western companies. This is not natural free-market activity, it is a state-sponsored effort to take technology and expertise from European companies and feed it into state-owned Chine…
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Based on a few decades of catch-up growth, I think it's a little early to claim that China has outsmarted the West.
The same happened in Poland (and other countries from behind the Iron Curtain). Most stuff here has German or French owners now.
Do you live in Poland? I live in Prague, and here, I'm surprised at how little people care about the foreign investment aspect of the privatization process. Even though almost everyone complains that it is corrupt, people here are mostly pro-west. The economy is strong here, and people don't see a big problem. Sure, we were among the richest countries in Europe pre WWII, but that was a long time ago, and people are n…
More Poles realise this now, but they are often frowned upon by the mainstream media (surprise, surprise - they are mostly German-owned) and called regressive, nationalistic, etc. But the trends are rather positive, we now have a government that seems to support Polish industry, and peoples' attitudes have changed. For example, there's a very popular mobile app called Pola, which tells you how much a product is "Polish" (it computes a score based on where the owners are located, whether the company does R&D in Poland, and so on) based on barcodes. It's actually pretty trendy now, and it's not uncommon to see people scanning stuff with it in supermarkets. More about it here: https://growthengine.withgoogle.com/intl/en-eu/voices#card-s...
Interesting fact - some people responsible for the sell out to the west have been recently given prominent positions in Ukraine's government structures.