Foreign Policy Blogs

Is China the only one still shopping?

At the Foreign Policy Association’s Rising Powers blog, we have highlighted news stories about China’s buying and lending spree across the globe, including in Russia and Latin America.  Today’s New York Times published an article detailing strategic deals China has made with natural resource companies worldwide, exploiting today’s low equity prices and dearth of capital to secure access to crucial industrial inputs, such as metals and oil.  Some Western analysts may worry about growing Chinese influence at a time that Western multinationals are reeling.  However, the arguments made in the past that multinationals provide the needed capital and know-how for development and growth apply equally to China. Have a look: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/21/business/worldbusiness/21yuan.html?hp.    

 

Author

Roger Scher

Roger Scher is a political analyst and economist with eighteen years of experience as a country risk specialist. He headed Latin American and Asian Sovereign Ratings at Fitch Ratings and Duff & Phelps, leading rating missions to Brazil, Russia, India, China, Mexico, Korea, Indonesia, Israel and Turkey, among other nations. He was a U.S. Foreign Service Officer based in Venezuela and a foreign exchange analyst at the Federal Reserve. He holds an M.A. in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University SAIS, an M.B.A. in International Finance from the Wharton School, and a B.A. in Political Science from Tufts University. He currently teaches International Relations at the Whitehead School of Diplomacy.

Areas of Focus:
International Political Economy; American Foreign Policy

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