Economic globalization has helped Africa become the fastest-growing aviation market in the world, with more carriers now looking to shore up their operations on the continent.
Africa's dearth of good infrastructure, particularly in transport, has long hobbled its economic development. The continent's terrain throws up particularly difficult challenges for land transport, so aviation is probably more important here than in other continents. However, in Africa the aviation industry has long been kept in a holding pattern because of the slow growth of the middle class.
African resources may lose some sheen as Chinese investors seek wider portfolios.
Europeans still remain nervous about the Chinese taking over their companies, according to a senior European business figure in China.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd announced recently that it had reached an agreement with Standard Bank Group Ltd to buy a 60 percent share of Standard Bank PLC, one of South Africa's largest fiancial services providers. The deal is said to be worth about $750 million.
As foreseen by the architect of China's economic reform, Deng Xiaoping, since 1980 foreign direct investment in China has played a vital role in the development of the nation's economy.
Chinese officials have been expecting overseas direct investment to exceed foreign direct investment for several years. Given past trends and new government policies, the biggest question is not if it will happen, but when.
The recent relaxation of one-child policy has huge demographic implications for China and the world.
China's easing of the one-child policy alone will not avert the aging population problem in the first region to allow couples to have a second child, but it will be the lynchpin of a bigger plan to do so, a senior government economist in Zhoushan says.
There are three reasons why Beijing businesswoman Wang Aimei thinks having more than one child in contemporary China is not only possible, but also wonderful.
Since the 1980s, the increase in China's working population has been an important factor supporting the country's economic growth. But this trend is now in reverse.
Visualize young people toiling all day just to support the increasing number of senior citizens. Does that sound troubling? Well, that could become reality if the current trend of population growth continues.
Copyright 1995 - 2010 . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263 Registration Number: 20100000002731 
