In a quirk of timing, 2 completely unrelated rulings are boosting the outlook for Chinese new energy firms from the wind and solar sectors in their complex relationship with the US. The 2 cases are quite different, but each reflects the wariness Washington feels towards these Chinese firms due to their government ties. In the bigger of the 2 cases, a World Trade Organization panel has ruled that US anti-dumping tariffs against Chinese solar panel makers violate WTO rules. In the second case, a US judge’s ruling has given a boost to a Chinese firm that planned to build a wind farm in the state of Oregon, only to get vetoed by Washington over national security concerns. Read Full Post…
I’ll be the first to admit I’m far from an expert on China’s banks, but the latest signs coming from the sector lead me to wonder if perhaps Agricultural Bank of China (HKEx: 1288; Shanghai: 601288), the least respected of the country’s big 4 lenders, may be best positioned to weather the bad loan crisis sowing chaos in the industry. China’s broader banking sector is facing one of the worst crises since many of the nation’s banks started going public in the mid-2000s, as lenders are unable to collect billions of dollars in loans made for questionable infrastructure projects during the global financial crisis. The problems is being compounded by the nation’s current economic slowdown, fueled in large part by anemic exports and foreign investment as the rest of the world grapples with lingering effects of the global recession.
US construction equipment giant Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) is taking an interesting new direction in China, following in the path of a growing number of firms that once relied on domestic sales but are now turning their attention to exports to offset a slowing home market. China’s big domestic car makers like Chery and Geely (HKEx: 175) have also increasingly looked to exports to offset their rapidly slowing sales at home, where they face not only weakening demand but also stiff competition from more experienced foreign competitors like GM (NYSE: GM) and Volkswagen (Frankfurt: VOWG).
I’ll start off today with a couple of news bits from Germany, one from the industrial equipment sector where Sany Heavy Industry (Shanghai: 600031) has made a major acquisition, and the other from the solar sector where Yingli (NYSE: YGE) has made a major sale. These 2 deals don’t really have much in common beyond the fact that both are in Germany, but for me the former illustrates a dubious approach for Chinese firms that want to enter Europe’s largest market, while the latter looks much more prudent. The first deal will see Sany acquire Putzmeister Holding, a concrete pump maker, in a purchase both companies say is the largest ever for a Chinese firm in Germany. (
