China’s Inner Mongolia: Energy and Minerals + Russian and Mongolia Links
October 17th, 2023
Via the South China Morning Post, an article on China’s efforts to highlight Inner Mongolia: State Council’s first provincial-level high-quality development plan for the Inner Mongolia autonomous region focuses on ecology, energy, strategic minerals and border security Plan focuses on building the region, which shares its border with Russia and Mongolia, into an important shield […]
Read more »China Got a Big Contract. Nepal Got Debt and a Pricey Airport.
October 16th, 2023
Courtesy of The New York Times, a report on Nepal’s new airport at Pokhara, which insiders suggest revals the pitfalls of China’s infrastructure-at-any-cost model: On a sweltering June morning, the new international terminal at the airport in Pokhara, Nepal’s second-biggest city, roared to life with the arrival of a Sichuan Airlines flight from China. A […]
Read more »As Belt and Road Forum Convenes, Time to Rethink Narratives on China’s Economic Coercion
October 16th, 2023
Via The Diplomat, commentary on the need to rethink the usual narratives on Chinese economic coercion, and the related anxieties about its ability to weaponize trade, given that China hasn’t been particularly good at it: After a hiatus since 2019, Beijing will host its third Belt and Road Forum on October 17 and 18. China […]
Read more »How China Left the World Far Behind in the Battery Race
October 14th, 2023
Courtesy of Bloomberg, an exclusive adapted excerpt from his new book , Akshat Rathi’s new book Climate Capitalism which explains the origin of China’s dominance in the battery market through the lens of CATL, now the world’s largest battery company: It was an admission of defeat. But you would never know it looking at the mild-mannered smiles […]
Read more »Mexico Is China’s Trojan Horse In The War For EV Dominance Against The U.S.
October 14th, 2023
Via Jalopnik, a report on how BYD, JAC and Chirey are keen on becoming major players in Mexico and that puts them in the backyard of the U.S. auto market. The U.S. and China are in a power struggle right now, , and its outcome is going to reorganize the roles both countries play in global automotive production. […]
Read more »China’s Promise of Prosperity Brought Laos Debt — and Distress
October 14th, 2023
Via The Washington Post, an article on Laos’ economy, pushed into distress by BRI infrastructure loans: At speeds of almost 100 miles an hour, the Chinese-built train zips over the Mekong River and careers through dozens of newly bored tunnels as it travels north from the capital. At its last stop, near the Chinese border, […]
Read more »Focusing primarily on The New Seven Sisters - the largely state owned petroleum companies from the emerging world that have become key players in the oil & gas industry as identified by Carola Hoyos, Chief Energy Correspondent for The Financial Times - but spanning other nascent opportunities around the globe that may hold potential in the years ahead, Wildcats & Black Sheep is a place for the adventurous to contemplate & evaluate the emerging markets of tomorrow.