Experts, business leaders and policymakers stayed optimistic on the future of Sino-European trade relations at the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business’ 5th China Economic Symposium in London on 19 July 2018, co-hosted with the Institute of Directors (IoD). The event saw close to 300 distinguished guests and high-profile speakers including H.E. Liu Xiaoming, Ambassador of China to the UK, Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, Tatiana Krylova, Head of the Enterprise Branch at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and Xiang Bing, the Founding Dean of Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business.

AmCham China and the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) host an invitation-only dinner for senior business executives to share their experiences investing in the US and hear from a top line-up of speakers, including CKGSB Professor of Economics Li Wei, on topics such as China capital controls, potential changes to US tax policies, US investment incentives and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS).

Join us on June 10 in Silicon Valley as we take an in-depth look at China's transformation and its implications for global business. This event will be hosted by Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB) and the Financial Times Outstanding Directors Conference.

Long-term reasons for optimism about China’s economy remain, but the current challenges must be addressed. That was the conclusion of CKGSB’s 4th China Economic Symposium, held in Beijing, just one day ahead of the school’s official 15th anniversary. The event drew 300 senior executives and economists in person, with close to 600,000 unique viewers watching online via five different live-streaming platforms.

Munhwa Ilbo, one of Korean general dailies, published an article based on the interview with Professor Li Wei of CKGSB. The interview, conducted at CKGSB Beijing Campus, focused upon the insights of Professor Li on the prospects of Chinese economy. He explained that in both short and long terms, China would not face critical problems, but current limitations of China's policy measures could cause serious problems in the mid-term. While sharing his insights on various aspects of domestic economy and relationship with other nations, he also indicated pursuing RMB internationalization as a pivotal task of the second-term government of President Xi Jinping.

Li Wei, a professor of Economics at CKGSB, wrote a column on diagnosis and in-depth analysis of China and global economic recovery in ‘Insight’ section of Chosun Ilbo Weekly Biz on Mar. 18. In his column, Prof. Li forecasted that a robust growth rate for China will be above 6% in the next few years and biggest obstacles for economic growth would be corporate and household debt. He gave his opinion that additional spending on infrastructure and structural reform by Chinese government are needed for the solution of these crisis.

CKGSB Professor of Economics Li Wei completed a full media tour of London to introduce his Business Conditions Index (BCI) to a European audience, before discussing the prospects for China’s economy and its impact on global businesses to a packed crowd at London’s iconic Ritz Hotel.

CKGSB cements its reputation as a thought leader on China business and economic issues, as three professors are joined by leading industry figures to debate the challenges and opportunities that lie in store for 2017 and beyond.

Debt is a ticking-time bomb for the Chinese economy. In the past three years central government stopped local governments from financing through investment vehicles and set a cap for the issuance of bonds. But new forms of debt continue to be formed. Local officials appear not to care about borrowing more, as long as the money can be used in projects that may translate to political achievements. And with those achievements, officials will be promoted to a higher level–as will the debt burden. A more worrisome thought will be: can those additional government debts and investments support China’s long-term growth?

Optimism for Chinese firms over the next six months still holds, but the corporate financing environment is getting difficult and the corporate inventory is increasing, according to the CKGSB Business Conditions Index, which registered 61.5 in February, a slight increase on January’s mark of 59.8. For CKGSBʼs sample of successful businesses operating in China, corporate sales index fell slightly from 82.7 to 80.5, while profits rose from 67.0 to 72.2, both are well above the confidence threshold of 50. Yet the other two sub-indices—corporate financing and in inventory—are below 50.

Slow growth in the Chinese economy will put pressure on local governments’ ability to repay their debts.