As corporate titans around the world scramble for cash to avoid going belly up, China is becoming an unlikely sugar daddy.
As the Christian Science Monitor reports, Chinese companies are on an "international spending spree," buying up stakes in everything from U.S. auto manufacturers to Canadian oil firms to Australian mining companies.
Massive loans to Russia and Brazil--to the tune of $25 billion and $10 billion, respectively--has China swimming in oil.
It seems odd: Local exporters, especially smaller factories, are struggling to stay afloat as foreign demand dives. But both state-owned enterprises, surprisingly flush for cash and with the government's directive to secure massive amounts of commodities and natural resources, and opportunistic private companies are getting in on the game.
It's an exciting time for a country unused to acquiring foreign assets--a bit of a coming-out party for Chinese titans and a welcome reversal of that "century of humiliation" when European and American commercial interests plundered the Middle Kingdom for all it was worth.
Needless to say, becoming everyone's favourite bailout provider (well, maybe after the U.S. Fed. But whatever) has its pitfalls: Australia has yet to approve the Rio Tinto/Chinalco deal and some fear foreign ownership of national industries, especially given the involvement of government and government-backed companies in these high-rolling deals. And China has its own troubled manufacturing sector and ballooning unemployment rate to worry about.
But for now, Chinese firms seem happy to troll the globe's bargain basements. And I doubt the companies on the receiving end of the cash are going to complain.
As the Christian Science Monitor reports, Chinese companies are on an "international spending spree," buying up stakes in everything from U.S. auto manufacturers to Canadian oil firms to Australian mining companies.
Massive loans to Russia and Brazil--to the tune of $25 billion and $10 billion, respectively--has China swimming in oil.
It seems odd: Local exporters, especially smaller factories, are struggling to stay afloat as foreign demand dives. But both state-owned enterprises, surprisingly flush for cash and with the government's directive to secure massive amounts of commodities and natural resources, and opportunistic private companies are getting in on the game.
It's an exciting time for a country unused to acquiring foreign assets--a bit of a coming-out party for Chinese titans and a welcome reversal of that "century of humiliation" when European and American commercial interests plundered the Middle Kingdom for all it was worth.
Needless to say, becoming everyone's favourite bailout provider (well, maybe after the U.S. Fed. But whatever) has its pitfalls: Australia has yet to approve the Rio Tinto/Chinalco deal and some fear foreign ownership of national industries, especially given the involvement of government and government-backed companies in these high-rolling deals. And China has its own troubled manufacturing sector and ballooning unemployment rate to worry about.
But for now, Chinese firms seem happy to troll the globe's bargain basements. And I doubt the companies on the receiving end of the cash are going to complain.
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