Canada and Australia in Asia-Pacific: Walking the Walk or Talking the Talk

Asian states will look at potential partners around the Pacific Rim and determine if they are ready to walk the walk or simply talk the talk. So far the lesson of Canada and Australia is that walking the walk requires sustained, strategic commitment, but has a big potential payoff. Australia has been taking concrete steps to solidify its relationship with Asia; Canada has been talking about it, and is only now starting to put into place an engagement program with substance.



Hugh Stephens Senior Fellow, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1MdQ2lN

“Massive Foreign Capital Flight” Is Not True

Sudden cases of factory relocation and closures has caused China’s foreign investment communities to worry about a “massive foreign capital flight.” With further investigation, foreign direct investment in China is shifting from manufacturing to service sectors. The focus of concern about China’s FDI situation should not be exaggerations of “massive foreign capital flight,” but on the solid efforts to improve China’s investment environment.



He Weiwen, Co-director, China-US/EU Study Center, CAIT via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1Etxbk6

China’s ‘Likenomics’

With the formal opening of the National People’s Congress session and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference today, all eyes are on the Chinese leaders, particularly Premier Li Keqiang, who are expected to announce the direction of the country for the new fiscal year. In an explicit recognition of China’s […]



Aljazeera via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1DQCExt

China’s lower growth target is missed opportunity

China’s new target for GDP growth is a missed opportunity. Premier Li Keqiang says economic output will expand by “about 7 percent” this year. Though the lack of precision is welcome, the People’s Republic would be better off without its big, reassuring objective. For most of the last decade, China’s […]



Reuters via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1DQCDd7

China’s New Silk Road and Its Impact on Xinjiang

China’s New Silk Road is of interest to the West largely because of the great power rivalry that appears to be once again emerging in the Central Asian region. Some pundits have suggested that China may well be displacing the U.S. and Russia in Central Asia, a region of longstanding […]



The Diplomat via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1DQCEh1

The target China should have set

China’s decision to lower its annual GDP growth target to “around 7 percent” — the lowest level in 15 years — is understandably dominating headlines this morning in Asia. The figure matters hugely to global markets, commodity-producing nations addicted to Chinese demand and not least, the tens of thousands of […]



Bloomberg via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1DQCDcT

China is getting ahead. Can the rest of the world keep up?

I’ve visited China over a dozen times in the last decade. And I’ve seen dramatic changes during that time. But nothing compares to what’s happened in the last 18 months. The China of today is a very different place. At the rate changes are occurring, it will be very different […]



Washington Post via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1DQCCWy