Chinese real estate

The New York Times writes about Chinese State-Owned Enterprises (SOE's) growing investments in real estate and how this adds to bubble symptoms in the real estate market. The article also states that the Chinese central government is trying to ebb the flow of capital into real estate, but that it has so far not been successful. This is not news; since the beginning of the year the central government has indeed signified that non-real estate-focused SOE's will need to exit real estate businesses (but not within the near future). However, the New York Times does point out that SOE's are using sophisticated legal structures to fund real estate developments and that their cleverness allows them to continue real estate ventures.

We will see what instrument(s) the government uses next to block SOE involvement in real estate, in order to cool down a hot and heated market.

Ambassador Niwa

Japan's Ambassador to China, Uichiro Niwa, continues to take an aggressive stance vis-a-vis the bureaucratic mentality of Japan's Foreign Ministry. For Japanese businesses and other groups frustrated by a lack of pro-active support from their government, Niwa-san is a breath of fresh air.