Business and Public Administration Studies (E-Journal, Washington Institute of China Studies - WICS)
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The Dragon\u27s Gift: The Real Story Of China In Africa
No full textThe Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, held in November of 2006 helped to focus more world attention on the state of the African economy, which has seen far too many worries and failures and far too few successes. As the author states "It forced the West to focus on something new: Chinese aid and other forms of economic engagement were sharply on the rise in Africa. China was on a track to become the African continent\u27s largest trading partner, outpacing Great Britain and the United States. Nearly 900 Chinese companies had invested in Africa by then (2002) – in factories and farms, retail shops and oil wells.
Macro Stress Testing On Credit Risk Of Commercial Banks In China
Full text linkIn recent years, a lot of effort has been put into stress testing on credit risk of banks all over the world. The New Basel Capital Accord, Basel Ⅱ, imposes the rigorous stress testing requirements: banks which implement the Internal Ratings-Based Approach (IRB) must conduct stress tests. The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) also requires all Chinese commercial banks to implement stress testing to manage credit risk. During the current financial crisis, stress testing on credit risk became a reviving focus of concern.Macro stress testing refers to a range of techniques used to assess the vulnerability of a financial system to “exceptional but plausible” macroeconomic shocks (see Blaschke et al, 2001 and Sorge, 2004). Most researchers design macro stress testing by modeling the link between macroeconomic variables and credit risk measures. Sensitivity analysis, scenario analysis, and extreme values are usually employed to implement the stress testing
China’s Environmental Crisis
Full text linkEconomic development in China means breakneck urbanization, heavy concentration on manufacturing, greatly expanded coal fired electrical power generation pollutants, heavy metals dumped into the air, and nasty chemicals dumped into the water. Heavy metals in the water are highly concentrated – 2,000 times as high as the official government standard. Japan and Korea are suffering from acid rain produced by China’s coal power electricity plants, and from dust storms carrying toxic dust. Scarce water resources are simply being recklessly dissipated. All of these problems are heavy contributors to environmental failures and crises, and all have been known by the government from the very beginning. The problem of environmental pollution was first addressed at a national conference on the subject in 1973, and six years later, the National People’s Congress passed the Environmental Protection Law. Five years after that, in 1984, the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) was formed. In 1998 it was promoted to ministerial level as the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) under the State Council. The law was amended to require environmental impact studies for all major construction projects and for imposing stiff fines for violations. Many environmental groups were started, and public opinion polls were almost unanimous in calling for stricter enforcement
Global Ethics and Corruption Measurement Issues in Latin America: The Cases of Colombia and Honduras
Full text linkCurrent international organizations focus more on measuring corruption rather than ethics, integrity or transparency in government. Even Transparency International (TI) does not actually measure “transparency” but corruption itself. More critical, those measurements may not be considering government efforts to prevent public corruption at the national and local level. For instance, according to TI’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), during the last decade the phenomenon of corruption in Latin America and the Caribbean countries has remained low-moderate, reaching ratings between 4 and 5 within the CPI rating scale, which includes values between 1 (more corruption) and 10 (less corruption). However, CPI scores may be ignoring specific data from the situation at the local government level. Moreover, CPI scores may have been seriously ignoring socio-political factors that affect corruption perceptions in society, as in the case of Colombia, or extreme poverty, such as in the case of Honduras. In order to escape a trap in which transparency efforts enhance the image of more affluent democracies while only appearing to confirm negative perceptions of societies in a developing stage, the author proposes the creation or improvement of “active transparency” practices at the local government level. This will transform citizens into key actors instead of just receptors of laws and anticorruption programs designed by government. Hence, this paper first discusses the problem with corruption and transparency measurement in the Latin
Is China Ready for the Mantel of International Leadership?
Full text linkIn the past few years China has crossed two colossal crossroads. It is now the world’s largest emitter of CO2 (2006/7) and held the summer Olympics (2008). And China shares a curious distinction with many other of the world’s “old” civilizations in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Central and Latin America. By today’s standards, they are considered developing countries, a designation that appears singularly objectionable to the Chinese. But a designation that appears to be a significant driving force in China’s overriding policy fostering economic growth. This article is a follow-up to two earlier articles published in this journal: “Is China Subordinating Health and Environmental Concerns to Economic Growth?” (Winter 2007) and “Environmental and Public Health Risks from Air Pollution at the Beijing 2008 Olympics” (Summer 2008). Both articles open the door to ask “Is China Ready for the Mantel of International Leadership?”
Education: A Comparison Of India And China
Full text linkIndia and China have developed two distinct forms of centrist elitist states which are very different but which share common characteristics. First of all, they are highly centrist in nature which means that they exhibit a compelling urge to gather power into the government, and then to hold such power at the national government level. Both have made significant delegations to state level governments, but China in particular believes in the central control of decentralized operations. There is a collateral urge to concentrate power in the hands of a small elite group especially around the power of economic development. In both cases, the logic is that centralized power is more easily controlled and manipulated, and that any sharing of power invites the undesirable prospect of having to negotiate and perhaps to be forced to compromise. This centrist urge is common to all forms of government: democracies, dictatorships, state socialist regimes, and even in Islamic states, where many of the control mechanisms are guided or compelled by religious imperatives rather than secular principles. While the key to power is usually economic, governments that are particularly authoritarian seek to extend their control to all elements of society: political, economic, social services, and even the definition of acceptable national cultural mores
The Development and Innovation of China’s New Energy Industry in the Post-Crisis Era
Full text linkIn the post-crisis era, the renewable energy industry is emerging as the focus of the new round of global green technological innovation. As the largest developing country and the second-largest energy producer and consumer in the world, China is facing greater pressure on energy-saving and emission reduction. Developing renewable energy[1] is an inevitable choice for China’s sustainable economic growth. In recent years, supported by market demands and polices, China\u27s renewable energy industry has got amazing growth. However, due to various reasons, the development of China\u27s renewable energy industry faces a number of constraints: the low level of core technology, imperfect market and disorderly competition. Therefore, the Government needs to promote technological innovation, to accelerate the market cultivation and industrial regulation so as to create favorable conditions for the healthy development of renewable energy industry.This paper examines the position of the new energy industry in China’s economic development; analyzes the major contradictions that confront China’s renewable energy industry; and outline the policies that handle the problems concerning technology progress, market cultivation and industrial regulation.[1] Renewable energy usually refers to those energies that do not pollute the environment and could be recycled in nature. Renewable energy is categorized to be traditional and new renewable energy. The former mainly includes giant hydropower and biomass burnt directly; the latter mainly refers to small hydropower, solar energy, wind energy, biomass energy, geothermal energy and ocean energy, etc. The renewable energy (RE), or new energy (NE), mentioned in this article all refer to the latter
The Relationship Between Transportation and Economic Development: The Yangtze Region
Full text linkThe rapid economic growth of China since the beginning of the economic reforms in 1978 has received much attention from economists and policy-makers throughout the industrialized world. China has experienced rapid economic growth since the beginning of the economic reforms in 1978. In terms of economic size, China is surpassed today only by the U.S., Japan, Germany, and France. Despite the global economic crisis of 2008, the Chinese economy managed 8.7% growth in GDP in 2009, and much of this growth in GDP can be attributed to the stimulus package passed by the Chinese government.