This column has previously been published in L’Opinion on August 31th 2021
The curb put on private Chinese companies offering private lessons — whose business had rocketed during the health crisis — goes counter to the pattern of reforms that we have got used to seeing from Beijing. This ideological crackdown could have serious consequences for Chinese society.
At the end of July, the Chinese government introduced a measure that more or less amounted to nationalizing the whole of the private educational sector concerning children aged 5 to 18, without compensation. …
This interview was previously published in Les Echos on 19th august 2021. Interview by Nicolas Madelaine et Sébastien Dumoulin
For David Baverez, an investor in China and based in Hong Kong, the chips are by no means down. But the recent crackdown on the Chinese internet is more problematic than Beijing’s move against Alibaba last autumn. The coming months will be crucial in knowing whether or not the Chinese government will return to a more conciliatory position.
Question: Last year, when Beijing blocked Ant’s IPO, you welcomed this measure of control. Is the latest crackdown more problematic?
Yes. It’s very…
When I arrived in Hong Kong, I understood that the same crazy pioneering spirit which had built the US in the 20th century would now be prevailing in China in the 21st century. And Hong Kong would be the best place for a Westerner like me to observe this New World emerging.
This column has been previously published in Hong Kong Echo, the French Chamber of commerce in Hong Kong
Stimulus plans, inflation, digital currency: the two powers have diametrically opposite approaches that will have major long-term effects on the monetary order.
This column has previously been published in Les Echos on 28th april 2021
History reminds us that major economic crises become financial crises before ending up as monetary ones. Government intervention over the past year has had the short-term advantage of generating a “crisis? What crisis?” situation in which it is claimed that economic collapse will have no financial effects. But the harsh reality is that, in the end, there will be a monetary adjustment that will bring…
This column has previously been published in L’Opinion on March 15th 2021
It is surprising that the long-awaited publication of China’s 14th five-year plan was not heralded by any great fanfare. It was expected to be the consecration of China as the country that would come out on top after the Covid crisis, but the announcements were somewhat disappointing with regard to observers’ three main expectations. …
This interview was previously published on Asia Times on march 10, 2021. Interview by Adriel Kasonta.
This interview was previously published on Asia Times on march 9, 2021. Interview by Adriel Kasonta.
Beijing is undergoing an unprecedented change in its energy mix. This is a major gamble that can be explained by the coming together of three concomitant factors.
This column was previously published in L’Opinion on 9th February 2021
Whereas the 2015 COP21 has unfortunately fallen to the wayside, China’s surprise announcement in September 2020 that it was targeting carbon neutrality by 2060 marked a real turning point in global environmental policy. This unprecedented gamble on changing the energy mix — with the aim of replacing almost 60% of China’s coal-fueled production by renewable energy in only 40 years — seems…
This column was previously published in Les Echos on 22nd January 2021
By rejecting technology — that of the new vaccine and of 5G — France continues to sink into a “society of fear” whilst the Chinese “society of zeal” pursues its conquest of the 21st century. Far from being considered a disruption leading to a so-called post-Covid world, the pangolin is perceived in China as the harbinger of a speeding-up of digitalization. A century after the Roaring ’20s in the USA, China is entering its “Roaring 2020s” in the same spirit: the automobile of the 1920s has become the…
“Nothing can stop China. Not even the most serious health crisis since 1918. Xi Jinping can boast about achieving positive growth in 2020. He is the only one” writes Rémi Godeau. Western investors are going to see a good many of their past convictions challenged. This will mean that the underweight position of China in global portfolios is bound to change. And this is going to make waves…
This column was previously published in “Les cahiers de l’Opinion”, on 15th january 2021
In 2001, China rose to the challenge of becoming part of the World Trade Organization. And, to the…
