China ready for Keynesian model - Amy Sommers

Amy Sommers
by Fons1 via FlickrChina is getting ready to spend its way out of the current financial crisis, says Shanghai-based attorney Amy Sommers in the LA Times.

"The government is going to actively and more quickly implement infrastructure development," said Amy Sommers, an attorney at Squire, Sanders & Dempsey's office in Shanghai. At the same time, she said, Beijing will be looking to attract more foreign investments in higher-value areas, such as green energy and new technologies for agricultural, environment and industrial use.

That should help companies like GE, which last month signed a strategic partnership with Hubei province, where the capital city of Wuhan is building a subway and expanding its airport. Shanghai, meanwhile, is ramping up for the World Expo in 2010, opening new opportunities for foreign businesses. AEG, the Los Angeles sports marketing firm that owns Staples Center and the Los Angeles Kings, last week announced, with the National Basketball Assn., new arena projects in Shanghai and Guangzhou.

China used similar investment strategies in its infrastructure during the Asia currency crisis in the second half of the 1990s.

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Amy Sommers is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. If you want to share her views on the ongoing financial crisis and China's possible answers, do get in touch.