Quick Takes
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Quick Take: Italy Signs on to China's Belt and Road
In a controversial move, Italy broke ranks with its EU counterparts to become the first major economy to sign onto China’s signature foreign and economic policy, the Belt and Road Initiative. President Xi Jinping made Italy his first stop on a European tour on March 22 to strengthen ties between the two countries. Significant contracts are expected to flow between the two countries as a result of the signing of this agreement, in addition to the 29 deals worth $2.8 billion that were signed during Xi Jinping's visit to Rome.
Read MoreQuick Take: Huawei Under Pressure: Implications for Chinese Tech
The developments around the high-profile arrest of Huawei’s CFO has created a media frenzy, launched a range of conspiracy theories and increased speculation about the role of Chinese telecom equipment providers globally. The following is a succinct summary of the salient facts of the case and its potential implications.
Read MoreQuick Take: U.S.-China Trade Moves Forward: Market Opening, Liu He to DC, and Another Big Xi Speech
China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on Friday quietly announced concrete steps to revise and eliminate restrictions set forth in their centrally administered Negative List on inbound foreign investment. In addition, the Vice President Liu He's upcoming visit to Washington and President Xi's speech in December celebrating the 40th anniversary of opening up and reform both show the intention to bring further market openings.
Read MoreQuick Take: U.S.-China Trade Talks, Where are we this week?
Vice Premier Liu He arrives next week for second round of trade talks, likely late next week Focus will be on reducing the trade deficit through increasing purchases, market access for key products, tech transfer, and intellectual property rights Finding some kind of resolution on ZTE will be a Chinese priority
Read MoreQuick Take: Egypt's Presidential elections produces expected results. What does another Sisi term mean?
As expected, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi secured a second term this past March, receiving 97 percent of the votes but with only 41% voter turn out. Expect to see continued focus on growing the economy, including eliminating government subsidies, opening new sectors to foreign investment, and job creation. On foreign affairs, close ties will continue with the United States and China.
Read MoreQuick Take: China's new financial "Dream Team" signals opening up
What comes next after China's financial "Dream Team" was announced? Opening up of China's financial sector to foreign firms is a priority of the newly announced leadership coming out of the National People’s Congress. The financial sector leadership announced last week is the most Westernized and technically experienced to date.
Read MoreQuick Take: What you need to know about the CFIUS and FIRRMA
Since being introduced by Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) on November 8th, the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Committee on Housing, Banking, and Urban Affairs held four hearings over the past two months on FIRRMA, the bill to expand CFIUS’s jurisdiction. A tone of tempered resolve to expand CFIUS was clear during the hearings.
Read MoreQuick Take: China signals greater "opening up" is imminent
China has been sending strong signals that they intend to announce greater market opening for foreign firms as well as a crackdown on intellectual property rights violations to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the launch of China’s “reform and opening up” initiative.
Read MoreQuick Take: Is China the star of Davos -- again?
Minister Liu He, the trusted economic adviser to President Xi Jinping, gave a much-anticipated speech to the Davos attendees. In keeping with the new normal in China post 19th Party Congress, Liu quoted President Xi: “As long as we keep to the goal of building a community with a shared future for mankind and work hand in hand to fulfill our responsibilities and overcome difficulties, we will be able to create a better world and deliver better lives for our people."
Read MoreQuick Take: President Xi moves on financial reform
In another clear sign that President Xi is entering the 19th Plenum in a strong position, China has announced plans to open a number of previously restricted sectors to foreign firms. Important policy decisions continue to be made and announced.
Read MoreQuick Take: Trump announces trade action against China (maybe…)
President Trump did not announce the launch of a 301 investigation today; rather, he signed an Executive Order directing the U.S. Trade Representative to examine China’s intellectual property rights (IPR) protection practices to determine if a Special 301 trade investigation should be launched. T
Read MoreQuick Take: Finally, the financial work conference
The Chinese government has announced that the Financial Work Conference (FWC) will take place on July 14-15. Originally planned to convene last summer, it was postponed due to divisions over some of the key issues, including the creation of a super–regulator to help ensure consistent oversight between the three main financial regulators (the China Banking Regulation Commission (CBRC), the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), and the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC)).
Read MoreQuick Take: Senator Cornyn details plans to modernize CFIUS
Yesterday at the Council on Foreign Relations, I had the honor of interviewing Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) on his plans to “modernize” the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). In his opening remarks, Mr. Cornyn admitted CFIUS is working reasonably well, but that there are many gaps being exploited by countries, such as China, in order to leapfrog technology.
Read MoreQuick Take: U.S. positions firms for Belt and Road "Project of the Century"
In typical Chinese fashion, this week’s Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation went off in a big way in Beijing. On May 14 and 15, 1,500 delegates from over 130 nations -- represented by 29 foreign heads of state and more than 200 ministers -- participated in the Forum. The Chinese Government announced 270 deliverables and $124 billion in new investment.
Read MoreQuick Take: Egypt's latest cabinet reshuffle: Implications for Egypt-China relations
This latest reshuffle was meant to demonstrate action and shore up investor confidence as the economy continues to sputter along. Devaluation of the currency has helped make exports cheaper, but rising inflation is a potential challenge.
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