Interesting fact. The number of textile looms in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo fell from 10,000 to 700 between 1861 and 1876, as a result of competition from an industrializing Europe. (I’m quoting Roger Owen’s excellent “The Middle East in the World Economy, 1800-1914”). Importantly, the number of textile factory closures in Aleppo is [...]
Gallery Archive
Look out Dubai. Yiwu is on the move.
The Chinese city of Yiwu is on the move. Yiwu is a major destination for Arab traders. But China’s exports have collapsed in the past six months and city hasn’t been spared. So, the city’s manufacturers look like they’ve spent some money, created a corporate logo, and hired out part of the Dubai International Convention [...]
A New Number One
Here’s one for the history books. China overtook the United States earlier this year as the world’s largest exporter to the Middle East. It’s the first time the United States has lost its number one ranking since at least the 1960s, or as far back as there is data available. I haven’t seen the figure [...]
Panning for gold in Morocco
I’ve spent the last week speaking at events in Beijing and Shanghai. I have to admit surprise at the number of people I’ve met who are exploring commercial opportunities between China and the Middle East. It’s still early days. But interest is growing. However, it was a comment by a reporter from a Moroccan news [...]
China’s Al Jazeera Opportunity
I was speaking this week with a reporter from Denmark’s Jutland Post about the likelihood China will create its own Al Jazeera. The reporter had mentioned that Richard Li, the son of a famous Hong Kong tycoon, has finally struck a deal with Caijing magazine, China’s leading financial magazine, to set up an English-language financial [...]
Al Sabah’s visit to Beijing isn’t only an oil story
Arab leaders are regular visitors to Beijing. This week it was the turn of Kuwait’s Al Sabah. Now, there are two stories I could write. The first story is the most obvious. It has to do with oil. The two sides finally signed an agreement to build an $9bn oil refinery in Guangdong province. It’s [...]
Waking From a “Winter’s Sleep”
A few weeks ago I referred to an article in the Chinese media claiming that the number of Arab nationals arriving at Shanghai’s Pudong airport had jumped. The article stated that the Middle East was waking from a “winter’s sleep” and shaking off the economic crisis. I wanted to get excited, but wasn’t entirely convinced―after [...]
Made-in-China keffiyahs cause problems for the West Bank
This article in the Financial Times tells how cheap Chinese exports are threatening traditional Palestinian manufacturing. It explains how Chinese-made keffiyahs, traditional Palestinian headscarves, are selling for half the price of the locally manufactured version. The secretary of Hebron’s chamber of commerce, and a shoe manufacturer, worries that the local shoe industry employs just 5,000 [...]
“China cheat sheet helps investors survive”, Bloomberg, September 1, 2010
“No more silver bullets for Beijing”, Wall Street Journal, June 17, 2010
“China’s historic return to the Gulf”, Foreign Policy, April 2, 2010
