Economy

Amid recent news of Chinese ride-hailing company Didi delisting from the New York Stock Exchange, Zaobao correspondent Edwin Ong notes that China seems to be closing a regulatory loophole allowing companies to sidestep the Chinese authorities and get listed overseas. In turn, the US is taking action to require audit checks on Chinese companies that are already listed or want to get listed in the US. Is this a sign of financial decoupling between the US and China or will both sides reach an agreement on regulations?

ISEAS academic Nick Freeman says that Laos’ first major railway, inaugurated on 3 December 2021, will create a new link with the Chinese market and has the potential to be a game changer for the Lao economy. This comes at a good time, as Laos seeks post-pandemic recovery in 2022. But the opening of the railway alone does not guarantee such a prospect. While the railway might boost industries such as tourism and exports, leading to a shift away from traditional sectors such as power generation and mineral mining, Laos needs to develop economic "muscle tissue" to ensure that the potential of the railway is translated into tangible results through investing in both hard and soft infrastructure.

With the pandemic showing no signs of abating, foreign companies in China are feeling the strain with difficulties of bringing in foreign employees and obtaining visas for their families amid changing Covid regulations. Meanwhile, China’s greater emphasis on “domestic circulation” is making foreign enterprises feel at an even greater disadvantage. Zaobao correspondent Chen Jing speaks to the American, European and Singaporean chambers of commerce to find out more.

China was the only major economy to expand in 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic swept across the world. But its regulatory whirlwind over the past year has created uncertainties and headwinds for the economy. Caixin tells us the five key things to watch for as the world’s second-largest economy ploughs through the final quarter of the year.

Qin Yu notes that the property market will cool somewhat, if people’s housing price expectations go down. But this might at the same time bring down property prices too much. How can the right balance be struck?

In the face of some turbulence in China’s economic indicators lately, academic Xu Le looks at certain bright spots amid falling aggregate demand and aggregate supply for a realistic gauge of China’s economic prospects in the coming months.

On 2 November, Tesla founder Elon Musk cryptically posted on social media an old Chinese poem, sparking discussion on what the poem meant — and what Musk meant. The controversial Musk, who has been quoted making comments supportive of China, has nevertheless faced challenges in bringing Tesla to China, including recent incidents of complaints against Tesla’s brake systems allegedly malfunctioning. However, efforts to handle such negative publicity seem to be working, as Tesla continues to grow strongly in China.

Analyst Luo Zhiheng compares China's distribution of national income with 20 major economies and concludes that among other things, there is a need to address a lower-than-average share of personal income in China, in order to achieve common prosperity. The Chinese government can work towards the goal of fostering an olive-shaped income distribution pattern by adjusting the tax structure, providing more investment options to its people, and developing its social security network.

While China’s latest third quarter year-on-year growth rate of 4.9% is still considered strong, some international commentaries have recently revisited the idea that “China’s economy is collapsing”. Taking a hard look at the situation of power cuts, a depressed property sector and the fact that state media saw fit to rebut these conjectures, Yang Danxu notes that there is some truth to slowing growth in the Chinese economy. However, the larger question is not how many percentage points drop here and there, but if downward momentum will shake the nation’s resolve to make structural adjustments for the good of the long-term health of the Chinese economy.