A remarkable video. It shows two Chinese traders in Iraq who have sponsored a Shiite ‘mawkib’ or religious procession. The black banner at the start of the video advertises that the procession is sponsored by the People’s Republic of China.
The older trader, when asked why he sponsored the service, talks of common dreams or aspirations. The younger trader (Mr Khalid) translates.
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There’s been speculation that China has cut its oil imports from Iran during the past month owing to a pricing dispute. This comes on the back of a U.S decision to impose sanction on foreign banks dealing with Iran’s central bank.
With that in mind, I’ve updated China’s oil import data for the past month. The graph shows only a modest change in the composition of China’s oil imports from its Middle East suppliers throughout the Arab spring.
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Two stories on Libya. The first from Yicai, the Chinese online financial paper, notes that Huawei and ZTE, two large telecommunications companies, are already back in Libya. The article says they are focused on resuming construction. But collecting payment has to be equally important.
If so, they should be encouraged that the Transitional National Council has welcomed back all Chinese companies wanting to complete their projects. That said, the council adds that it will inspect any previously signed contracts for corrupt dealings.
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