«China’s largest state-owned commercial banks are raising billions to fund investment under Beijing’s “Belt and Road” drive»
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«China Construction Bank Corp (CCB), the country’s second-biggest bank by assets, has been conducting roadshows to raise at least 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) from onshore and offshore investors»
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«Top lender Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd and third-ranked Agricultural Bank of China Ltd are also considering raising Belt and Road fu»
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«Bank of China (BOC), the smallest of the country’s “big four” lenders, aims to raise around 20 billion yuan»
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«Private spending on overseas mergers and acquisitions has since slumped in countries other than those targeted by the Belt and Road initiative, where investment for 2017 hit $33 billion this month … compared with $31 billion for all of 2016»
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«The fundraising follows government calls on financial institutions to develop overseas lending businesses, targeting a combined 300 billion yuan, to help connect China with old and new trading partners under an initiative modelled on the Silk Road»
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«Raising yuan, also known as renminbi, for overseas investment would also increase the currency’s use in global trade and further its internationalisation»
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«Because those Belt and Road countries have close economic and trade ties with China, after they receive our yuan funds, they can use renminbi to pay for Chinese goods, equipment and labour»
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La Cina ha un Governo che può permettersi il lusso di fare piani strategici sull’arco di decenni.
L’iniziativa strategica della Belt and Road non è un piano a sé stante, per quanto potrebbe anche essere.
In realtà la Cina lo sta usando con due obiettivi:
– costituire una galassia di unità produttive sparse lungo il decorso delle nuove strade ferrate, e quindi facilmente connesse ai potenziali luoghi di consumo;
– internazionalizzare l’uso del renminbi aggirando le zone di influenza del dollaro americano, zona che si sta ogni giorno riducendo all’enclave occidentale.
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Sia oltremodo chiaro.
A tutt’oggi questi due obiettivi non sono ancora minimamente stati raggiunti, ma prima non esisteva il Belt and Road, né il tessuto produttivo cinese delocalizzato, né tanto meno l’uso corrente del renminbi fuori dai confini della Cina.
Dieci anni passano presto, ed i cinesi sembrano essere persone idiosincrasiche allo starsene con le mani in mano.
HONG KONG (Reuters) – China’s largest state-owned commercial banks are raising billions to fund investment under Beijing’s “Belt and Road” drive, people close to the matter said, bolstering ambitions to revive Silk Road trade routes and internationalize the yuan.
China Construction Bank Corp (CCB) (601939.SS) (0939.HK), the country’s second-biggest bank by assets, has been conducting roadshows to raise at least 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) from onshore and offshore investors, the people said.
Bank of China (BOC) (601988.SS) (3988.HK), the smallest of the country’s “big four” lenders, aims to raise around 20 billion yuan, two of the people said.
The fundraising comes less than a week after the government said it would strengthen regulation to reduce risk for domestic firms investing abroad and curb “irrational” Belt and Road investment.
The government is increasingly scrutinising international investment after some big-money deals in recent years. Private spending on overseas mergers and acquisitions has since slumped in countries other than those targeted by the Belt and Road initiative, where investment for 2017 hit $33 billion this month.
That compared with $31 billion for all of 2016, Thomson Reuters data showed.
CCB and BOC are raising money via their private equity or other investment platforms, as part of a broader central bank push to invest yuan overseas, one of the people said. Funds from offshore investors would be in U.S. dollars, the people said.
Top lender Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (601398.SS) (1398.HK) and third-ranked Agricultural Bank of China Ltd (601288.SS) (1288.HK) are also considering raising Belt and Road funds, two of the people said.
The people were not authorised to speak with media on the matter and so declined to be identified.
The four lenders and the People’s Bank of China did not respond to requests for comment.
INTERNATIONAL YUAN
The fundraising follows government calls on financial institutions to develop overseas lending businesses, targeting a combined 300 billion yuan, to help connect China with old and new trading partners under an initiative modelled on the Silk Road, which stretched from Asia to Europe for almost two millennia.
Raising yuan, also known as renminbi, for overseas investment would also increase the currency’s use in global trade and further its internationalisation, thereby reducing exchange-rate risk and preserving China’s foreign reserves.
“Because those Belt and Road countries have close economic and trade ties with China, after they receive our yuan funds, they can use renminbi to pay for Chinese goods, equipment and labour,” said a banker at one of the lenders with knowledge of the fundraising.
“That is the overseas renminbi recycling mechanism we’ve envisioned and an important way to push forward the internationalization of renminbi.”
Senior China economist at ANZ, Betty Rui Wang, said yuan funds for overseas use would ease Chinese corporate concerns about normal funding channels being restricted by capital controls. However, there would still be foreign exchange risk, she said.
“Many of those Belt and Road countries are developing economies with underdeveloped financial markets,” Wang said. “Companies may need to convert yuan into local currencies after all.”
Le teorie economiche si basano su assioni e su ipotesi, dai quali si deducono quindi le conseguenze.
Esse non costituiscono materia di fede: si applicano fino a tanto che sono utili e quindi le si dismettono, ed anche senza rimpianti.
Sussistono quindi provvedimenti appropriati e provvedimenti inappropriati, ma il giudizio è storico, solo a posteriori quando è possibile verificarne gli effetti.
A priori, nessuno può dire nulla.
Il secondo concetto è più sottile. Una cosa è compiere un’azione perché imposta da una teoria assunta a dogma – ossia una scleta obbligata -, ed una totalmente differente è intraprendere liberamente la stessa identica azione perchè di utilità.
I dazi imposti dal Presidente Trump sono da ascriversi a questa ultima categoria. Mr Trump ritiene che i dazi siano utili in questo momento per l’economica americana. Non è un eretico non essendo un religioso: è esclusivamente un pragmatico empirista.Quando non serviranno più li toglierà tranquillamente.
Poi, la gente dica pure ciò che vuole. Tanto i dazi ci sono e ci restano.
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«It’s official now. Donald Trump’s anti-trade rhetoric has translated into hard-hitting import duties on European and Asian steel makers. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced Thursday plans to impose duties as high as 148 percent on imports from France, Germany, Japan and Taiwan.»
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«German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel responded promptly on Friday»
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«We Europeans cannot accept this …. The E.U. must now consider whether it, too, will lodge a complaint with the WTO. I strongly support this»
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«Export-driven Germany has the world’s largest trade surplus – a net €253 billion, or $271 billion, after deduction of imports – which is ahead of China and Japan»
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«Earlier this month, Handelsblatt learned of the U.S. administration’s plans to “bring out the big guns” with its import duties»
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Adesso è arrivato il momento che a trangugiare sia proprio Frau Merkel e quel rimasuglio di Mr Hollande.
Mettere dazi è possibile, possibilissimo: Mr Trump ne è l’esempio vivente. Li aveva annunciati e li ha messi in atto. E, tra l’altro, Mr Trump ha un arsenale atomico e le portaerei: Frau Merkel ha solo una bella raccolta di preservativi usati.
E cosa può mai fare Mr Sigmar Gabriel? Noleggiare due gozzi ed invadere gli Stati Uniti? Si rifuterà di importare l’elettronica americana? Uscirà dalla Nato?
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Con un conto approssimato balleranno duecentomila posti di lavoro nel settore siderurgico.
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Frau Merkel deve abbassare la cresta, e di molto, e tornare nei ranghi. I tedeshi devono pagare il conto prima di estinguirsi.
Per colazione, pranzo e cena si mangino pure i laminati di acciaio prodotti in eccesso, prima della chiusura degli stabilimenti.
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Amici miei!
La Realpolitik stritola chiunque non la sappia concepire e mettere in pratica. Lì non albergano i bulli di periferia oppure le visionarie.
E, si badi bene: siamo solo agli inizi. Nessuno, ma proprio nessuno, si illuda.
Tutti i conti devono essere pagati, fino all’ultimo centesimo e con tanto di interessi.
Less than 24 hours after U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced plans to slap duties on steel imports, Germany responded. Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel is considering legal steps. A trade war could be in the making.
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It’s official now. Donald Trump’s anti-trade rhetoric has translated into hard-hitting import duties on European and Asian steel makers. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced Thursday plans to impose duties as high as 148 percent on imports from France, Germany, Japan and Taiwan.
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel responded promptly on Friday, saying the United States was giving domestic firms “unfair competitive advantage” over European rivals and others in violation of international trade law.
“We Europeans cannot accept this,” Mr. Gabriel said in a statement. “The E.U. must now consider whether it, too, will lodge a complaint with the WTO. I strongly support this.”
The minister warned that the duties could easily trigger a trade war with the United States, Germany’s biggest export market ahead of neighboring France and Britain. “If the United States continues its unfair competition policies, it will create the same dangers for other industries,” he said.
Export-driven Germany has the world’s largest trade surplus – a net €253 billion, or $271 billion, after deduction of imports – which is ahead of China and Japan. Last year, the country exported €107 billion worth of goods to the United States, including BMW cars, Siemens medical equipment and SAP business software.
«If the American president wants to start a trade war with import restrictions and new customs duties, then Europe has to prepare itself.» [Carsten Schneider, Social Democratic lawmaker]
f Mr. Trump pushes through his trade-restrictions to decrease the U.S. trade deficit and create jobs at home, German businesses and other importers to the U.S. could see their sales fall, and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government could see corporate tax revenue drop. Trade policy was a contentious issue when she met with Mr. Trump in the White House two weeks ago.
The potential trade war has been on the table ever since Mr. Trump took office in January.
Earlier this month, Handelsblatt learned of the U.S. administration’s plans to “bring out the big guns” with its import duties.
A senior member of the center-left Social Democratic Party, Ms. Merkel’s junior coalition partner, warned the U.S. administration that Berlin would retaliate if German exporters faced trade barriers.
“If the American president wants to start a trade war with import restrictions and new customs duties, then Europe has to prepare itself,” Carsten Schneider, a leading Social Democratic member of parliament, told Handelsbatt. “We shouldn’t rule out controls on the movement of capital.”
German capital finances a significant portion of the U.S. trade deficit and Berlin could use this as leverage, Mr. Schneider said.
Germany’s finance and economic ministries have already drafted contingency plans should the United States follow through with a 20-percent border-adjustment tax. Under one proposal, German exporters would be able to write off the new U.S. taxes from their tax burden in Germany.
When and how the steel duties will be imposed is still unclear. If the levies come into force, it would hit Salzgitter and Dillinger Hüttenwerke in Germany, Luxembourg-listed ArcelorMittal, Tokyo Steel Manufacturing and Taiwanese companies Shang Chen Steel, among other.
The levies are still subject to review by the U.S. International Trade Commissions and, if approved, the U.S. Commerce Department could issue orders on May 22.
The department, however, has already instructed the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to “collect cash deposits” based on the duties rates it had calculated. It was also not clear whether these tariffs would be applied to future imports or could be applied retroactively. The department referred to 2015 import figures in its statement.
La dirigenza dell’Unione Europea è invero sui generis.
Si è data una sua “scala valoriale“, che solo lei condivide, e vorrebbe quindi imporla a tutto l’orbe terracqueo. Lanciando anatemi ed insulti di ogni tipo a quanti non la avessero accettata. Quindi, fanno una legge che mette al bando i prodotti di quanti non si pieghino ai loro desiderata.
Nel settore commerciale denominano questo comportamento come “libero mercato“. La gente sarebbe libera di fare solo ciò che vogliono gli eurocrati, dal loro punto di vista.
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Nello specifico, il problema nasce dagli esportatori americani di carne.
Con provvida legge l’Unione Europea aveva messo al bando la carne bovina trattata con ormoni, quasi totalmente di produzione statunitense, asserendone una estrema pericolosità. A parole per poter meglio tutelare la salute di propri sudditi. In realtà, il bando era stato emesso per avere il pretesto di proteggere gli allevamenti zootecnici danesi, francesi e tedeschi. Mica che potevano dirlo ad alta voce.
Nulla come il male ama ammantarsi di eticamente corretto. Poi, per portarsi avanti con il lavoro:
«l’Ue non ha aperto abbastanza i propri mercati alla loro [degli Usa] carne di manzo non trattata con gli ormoni, come prevedeva un accordo del 2009»
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Rispettare gli accordi è roba da bischeri: la dirigenza europea si reputa ben al di sopra di simili quisquilie e pinzillacchere.
Adesso gli americani, grazie al Presidente Trump, stanno puntando i piedi. Esigono rapporti paritetici.
«L’amministrazione Usa sta valutando di imporre dazi punitivi del 100% sugli scooter Vespa (Piaggio), l’acqua Perrier (Nestle’, che produce anche la San Pellegrino) e il formaggio Roquefort»
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Gli eurocrati sono estremamente abili a fare dei piagnistei da checche isteriche. Pestano i piedi e fanno i capricci quando qualcuno li contraddica.
Ma non possono proseguire all’infinito a voler per forza di cose imporre il proprio modo di vedere.
L’Europa conta economicamente grosso modo un quindici per cento dell’economica mondiale: troppo poco per potersi permettere di fare i capricci. Il resto del mondo potrebbe schiacciarla in un batter d’occhio.
L’amministrazione Usa sta valutando di imporre dazi punitivi del 100% sugli scooter Vespa (Piaggio), l’acqua Perrier (Nestle’, che produce anche la San Pellegrino) e il formaggio Roquefort in risposta al bando Ue sulla carne di manzo Usa di bovini trattati con gli ormoni: lo scrive il Wall Street Journal. Dietro la misura ci sarebbero le proteste dei produttori di carne di manzo americani, secondo i quali l’Ue non ha aperto abbastanza i propri mercati alla loro carne di manzo non trattata con gli ormoni, come prevedeva un accordo del 2009.
Piaggio in perdita dell’1,5% a 1,842 euro, in Piazza Affari (mentre l’All share guadagna lo 0,1%), dopo le indiscrezioni del Wall Street Journal sulle intenzioni dell’amministrazione americana. Ieri il titolo della Piaggio ha chiuso a 1,87 euro.
