Xi + LDK Solar

choi

(1) Jeremy Page, Bob Davis and Tom Orlik, China's New Boss. Xi Jinping has charisma, a common touch and a beloved pop-star wife. But can he reform a Communist elite accustomed to the fruits of corruption?  Wall Street Journal, Nov 10, 20122.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB ... 06860600724862.html

Quote:

(a) "In an interview with a Chinese magazine in 2000, Mr Xi warned against being too ambitious when taking a new Party post. 'You always want to do something new in the first year,' he said. 'But it must be on the foundations of your predecessor. It is a relay race. You have to receive the baton properly, then run well with it yourself.' He also quoted Guanzi, an ancient Chinese philosopher, who said 'Don't try to do the impossible. Don't try to obtain the unobtainable.'

(b) "'One man cannot change China,' said one old family friend of Mr Xi. 'If he tries to tackle the interest groups around him too quickly, he will meet the same fate as Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang.' Mr Zhao was another reformist Party leader, purged in 1989.

(c) "In Fujian, Mr Xi developed his business acumen and honed his political skills by tackling the sensitive question of relations with Taiwan * * * To try to replicate his father's success [in Guangdong], Mr Xi turned to Taiwan and its thriving export-led economy. Many business executives there had family roots in Fujian and were attracted by the province's low labor costs.

"But political relations were fraught: Beijing feared that Taiwan was moving toward independence and fired missiles into the sea near the island in 1995 and 1996 as a warning. Some Taiwanese real estate developers headed home. But Mr. Xi met regularly with Taiwanese groups to try to prevent a larger exodus. In 1999, Mr Xi publicly endorsed a free-trade pact between China and Taiwan, with lower tariffs and other incentives to Taiwanese business.

My comment: There is no need to read the rest of this essay, for it talks baout things we knew.


(2) Wayne Ma, A Rare Solar Success Story; China's LDK Solar has managed to thrive with the help of powerful allies. Wall Street Journal, Nov 7, 2012 (title in print).
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB ... 02622969874936.html

Quote:

"It's no surprise that US and European solar-equipment companies are struggling, undermined, they say, by competition from China. But China's LDK Solar Co has had many of the same problems: heavy debt, deepening losses and a sinking stock. The difference: LDK's factories are widely expected to keep on humming" with help from Chinese lenders and local government.

"The support also is central to a global fight over solar subsidies between Beijing and Washington and Brussels.

Note:
(a) The title is a sarcasm.
(b) investment fund Heng Rui Xin Energy Co, which is backed by the Xinyu government
恒瑞新能源有限公司/ 江西省 新余市