The Heat: Chinese economy and transnational partnerships

The Heat

When China’s stock markets were recently hit with volatility, the story made headlines from Shanghai to Wall Street. Chinese investors suffered heavy losses as stock prices tumbled. The markets have now stabilized after regulators put controls in place. Meanwhile, there are new numbers out this week that give us an indication of the current strength of China’s economy. The Heat looks at China’s stock markets, new numbers on China’s economy and a major potential trade deal with implications for the world’s two largest economies.

The Heat began its discussion about China and its stock markets with these guests:

  • Victor Gao is the director of the China National Association of International Studies. He joined the discussion from Reykjavik, Iceland.
  • Yukon Huang is Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment and a former World Bank country director for China.

The Heat shifted its discussion towards the TPP. The U.S. is leading an effort to form a trade deal with 11 other Pacific Rim nations. The Trans Pacific Partnership is still a work in progress but, if concluded, it would be the biggest ever trade agreement for the Asia-Pacific region. China is not part of the 12 nation group.

The Heat spoke to these guests:

  • Dan Ikenson is director of the Cato Institute’s Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies, and he’s an expert on U.S. – China trade. He favors the TPP trade deal.
  • Dean Baker is Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, and he’s opposed to the deal.
  • Victor Gao is the director of the China National Association of International Studies joined us from Reykjavik, Iceland.