The Big Call

Unease at US driving China into Asean arms

  • Published 28 Jan 2010

Fears of anti-dumping cases from the US and EU is one factor motivating investments in Asean by Chinese companies.

The big lesson that Beijing learned from the global financial crisis was that depending on the US can be painful. The slump in US demand hit Chinese exporters hard in late 2008, stripping more than an estimated 20m factory workers of their jobs. Beijing also looked on helplessly as the value of its huge US investments fell along with the dollar.