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Copyright 2005 The Financial Times Limited
Financial Times (London, England)
September 6, 2005 Tuesday
London Edition 2
SECTION: COMPANIES ASIA-PACIFIC; Pg. 12
LENGTH: 418 words
HEADLINE: China 'has boosted the US economy' BANK CHIEF:
BYLINE: By RICHARD MCGREGOR
DATELINE: BEIJING
BODY:
One of China's top finance officials has made a plea for greater understanding of his country's contribution to the US economy, saying its supply of cheap goods and capital in recent years has helped to moderate inflation and fuel growth.
Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Construction Bank (CCB), the country's second-largest domestic lender, said he understood that some US critics were only protecting their own national interest, but that conclusions should be based "on raw facts".
"We have benefited a lot from the outside, but our contribution to the international community is no less than that," said Mr Guo in an interview. "Our net capital outflow to the US is many times the capital inflow into China from the US."
He said large purchases of US treasuries and other US-issued bonds by the Chinese central and commercial banks had "injected huge amounts of cheap capital into the US economy".
"We have played a significant role in stabilising the financial market in the US. We have also offered cheap goods," Mr Guo added. "Without China's economic rise, we wouldn't see the current international inflation situation."
Mr Guo's comments were made on the eve of the postponement of President Hu Jintao's visit to the US, a trip that Beijing had hoped could be used to alleviate growing distrust and suspicion of China in Washington.
Senior Chinese like Mr Guo appear to have taken US acrimony over the failed bid by CNOOC, the Chinese energy enterprise, for Unocal, the American oil and gas company, as a sign that China needs to make its case more lucidly on the world stage. Mr Guo also has a personal interest, as CCB is preparing a Dollars 5bn (Euros 4bn, Pounds 2.7bn) initial public offering overseas, possibly as early as November or December, a pioneering listing which is crucial for Chinese bank reform.
He said there had even been concern expressed in the US about the "restructuring and listing of China's state banks".
"(Some Americans) are worried if China raises a lot of money in the US, whether it will affect the security of the financial sector; whether it will lead to (a) bubble on the stock market; and whether China will join an arms race (using the money)," he said.
Despite the US professing to run an open economy, he said the CCB was still allowed to have only a representative office there after many years of trying to open a full branch.
"US companies' investments are welcomed in China in nearly all industries. But we have suffered from the unequal treatment in the US," he said.
LOAD-DATE: September 5, 2005
Financial Times (London, England)
September 6, 2005 Tuesday
London Edition 2
SECTION: COMPANIES ASIA-PACIFIC; Pg. 12
LENGTH: 418 words
HEADLINE: China 'has boosted the US economy' BANK CHIEF:
BYLINE: By RICHARD MCGREGOR
DATELINE: BEIJING
BODY:
One of China's top finance officials has made a plea for greater understanding of his country's contribution to the US economy, saying its supply of cheap goods and capital in recent years has helped to moderate inflation and fuel growth.
Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Construction Bank (CCB), the country's second-largest domestic lender, said he understood that some US critics were only protecting their own national interest, but that conclusions should be based "on raw facts".
"We have benefited a lot from the outside, but our contribution to the international community is no less than that," said Mr Guo in an interview. "Our net capital outflow to the US is many times the capital inflow into China from the US."
He said large purchases of US treasuries and other US-issued bonds by the Chinese central and commercial banks had "injected huge amounts of cheap capital into the US economy".
"We have played a significant role in stabilising the financial market in the US. We have also offered cheap goods," Mr Guo added. "Without China's economic rise, we wouldn't see the current international inflation situation."
Mr Guo's comments were made on the eve of the postponement of President Hu Jintao's visit to the US, a trip that Beijing had hoped could be used to alleviate growing distrust and suspicion of China in Washington.
Senior Chinese like Mr Guo appear to have taken US acrimony over the failed bid by CNOOC, the Chinese energy enterprise, for Unocal, the American oil and gas company, as a sign that China needs to make its case more lucidly on the world stage. Mr Guo also has a personal interest, as CCB is preparing a Dollars 5bn (Euros 4bn, Pounds 2.7bn) initial public offering overseas, possibly as early as November or December, a pioneering listing which is crucial for Chinese bank reform.
He said there had even been concern expressed in the US about the "restructuring and listing of China's state banks".
"(Some Americans) are worried if China raises a lot of money in the US, whether it will affect the security of the financial sector; whether it will lead to (a) bubble on the stock market; and whether China will join an arms race (using the money)," he said.
Despite the US professing to run an open economy, he said the CCB was still allowed to have only a representative office there after many years of trying to open a full branch.
"US companies' investments are welcomed in China in nearly all industries. But we have suffered from the unequal treatment in the US," he said.
LOAD-DATE: September 5, 2005
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