I have to admit, I wasn’t always excited about Central Asia. The region’s economy is no bigger than Singapore’s, but spread over a land mass the size of Europe. It has oil, but mostly concentrated in Kazakhstan. It’s also land-locked without easy access to ports. For an economist, it isn’t a compelling story. But that [...]
Gallery Archive
China’s relations with Algeria catch attention
China’s commercial relations with Algeria are among the strongest in the Middle East owing to the size of the construction projects and large number of construction workers. This first article, by Chris Zambelis for the Jamestown Organization, provides a good review. I’m a big fan of analysts getting their hands dirty, and it seems that Zambelis [...]
Market Forces Rule
I see China’s Commerce Minister, Chen Deming, was in Riyadh last week. The Saudis might as well leave the red carpet unrolled, so common are visits by Chinese officials. It isn‘t surprising, of course, given China’s thirst for oil. But I would resist the temptation to claim a special strategic relationship between the two. I‘ve [...]
China’s naval base proposal and Somali pirates
Might Somali pirates be the initial trigger for a larger Chinese military presence in the Middle East? Yi Zhuo, a senior researcher at the Naval Equipment Research Centre, has raised the idea that China establishes naval bases in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean in order to supply the country’s recent naval activities in the [...]
Al Sharq Al Awsat editorial hints at trade frictions
I’m intrigued by this editorial in the Arabic-language Al Sharq Al Awsat. It’s written by Jaafar Karar Ahmad. I haven’t heard of the author before, but he’s reportedly associated with a University in Shanghai. He’s also on record as working for Qatar’s Embassy in Beijing. Either way, he seems to know China. The editorial is [...]
China v Jordan. A 2-2 draw in Yiwu.
Here’s a gentle start to the New Year. It’s not a story you’ll find in the Financial Times or New York Times, but it neatly underscores how relations between China and the Middle East are developing. It seems that the Chinese coastal city of Yiwu hosted a football match between China and Jordan on December [...]
“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
