China’s economic system is founded on the reforms carried out in the 1990s. With the unification of dual exchange rates in 1994, markets became the main tool to set prices. Many state-owned enterprises were either privatised or went bankrupt. Since then, privately managed businesses have consistently gained ground. The conventional formula to describe the role … Read more
EU governments gave the go-ahead to the first official payment of around €4.2 billion to Ukraine under a €50 billion package of loans and grants to support the country’s reconstruction. They deemed Ukraine to have met nine conditions in a set of reforms covering “public finance management, governance of state-owned enterprises, business environment, energy and … Read more
Four current and former senior executives of China’s state-owned enterprises in sectors including finance and energy have been placed under investigation for alleged corruption. They are Zuo Zuqing, deputy director of the state-run China National Nuclear Corp’s capital operational centre; Chen Xiaopeng, former party secretary and director of the China Securities Regulatory Commission’s Shenzhen branch; … Read more
Observers and business owners have welcomed the expected initiatives, but some raised concerns about their implementation at the local level. In a briefing in Beijing on Friday on the outcome of the third plenum, Han said China would improve the mechanism for private companies to take part in major national projects, support capable firms to … Read more
The 370 or so members of the committee, chosen at each twice-a-decade national congress, include the party’s top decision-making Politburo, as well as ministers, provincial party secretaries, senior generals and heads of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). They usually gather for seven plenary sessions over the committee’s five-year term. The third plenum has been a landmark event … Read more
Ever-closer ties have allowed private-sector aid of R170 million to flow between business and government, and not the other way round. In a difficult week that started with Stats SA releasing poor GDP data for the fourth quarter of 2023, it became clear that South Africa is effectively in a ‘per-capita recession.’ That’s according Chief Economist … Read more
