At the Foreign Policy Association’s Rising Powers blog, we have highlighted news stories about China’s buying and lending spree across the globe, including in Russia and Latin America. Today’s New York Times published an article detailing strategic deals China has made with natural resource companies worldwide, exploiting today’s low equity prices and dearth of capital to secure access to crucial industrial inputs, such as metals and oil. Some Western analysts may worry about growing Chinese influence at a time that Western multinationals are reeling. However, the arguments made in the past that multinationals provide the needed capital and know-how for development and growth apply equally to China. Have a look: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/21/business/worldbusiness/21yuan.html?hp.
