China announced a further package of tax cuts to benefit SMEs, extending previous reductions in income tax and VAT exemptions. That's presumably good news for would-be businesspeople, although it's difficult to tell from a distance how far Chinese entrepreneurs are tormented by bureaucrats, as is the case for small businesses in Europe and America Read Full Article »
One swallow doesn't make a summer, but two are a bit more promising, and that's what we are seeing in the EU/China tradasphere, with harmony breaking out on the oenophile and polysilicon fronts. In a parallel WTO case, over China's rare earth export policies, the country is left looking rather battered after an investigation, and said mildly only that it "regretted" the decision against it. The US, on the other hand, continues to present a hard front towards China over its trading policies for solar energy exports. Read Full Article »
Doing business in China offers many benefits, not only because the country is a manufacturing paradise, but also because of its low business costs. Read Full Article »
Ed Fast for the WTO! This is not to do down Pascal Lamy, who soldiers on gamely with the Doha Round, but even this determined marathon runner has to get tired sometime, and when he does, Ed would be a good replacement. He has bone-dry free trading credentials, on display once again this week as he took a 30-strong delegation of Canadian business-people to Russia. You do have to wonder slightly what they are going to sell each other: hockey players? snow-ploughs? But that's the wonder of free trade: once the barriers are down, all kinds of amazing things happen. In BT 50 (an alternative calendar, BT for before taxes, round about 1900, and AT for after taxes) my great-great grandfather made money buying eggs in Kazan (that's where Ed was this week) and selling them in Rochdale. Who could have guessed it? Read Full Article »
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