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WILMINGTON, Delaware – China’s largest maker of auto parts won a politically sensitive auction for A123 Systems Inc , a bankrupt maker of batteries for electric cars that was funded partly with U.S. government money, the investment banker for A123 said on Saturday. Timothy Pohl of Lazard Freres said Wanxiang Group Corp’s bid of about $ 260 million topped a joint bid from Johnson Controls Inc of Milwaukee and NEC Corp <6701.T> of Japan for the maker of lithium-ion batteries. Siemens AG of Germany had also qualified to bid, according to two people familiar with the auction, who asked not [...]

BEIJING China’s top newspaper scolded the United States on Friday for shirking responsibility as a superpower by prolonging uncertainty over how it will avoid a “fiscal cliff” that could put the world economy at risk. “American politicians should understand that a ‘self-created’ recession will gravely erode both the soft and hard power of the United States,” the People’s Daily, a newspaper regarded as a mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, said. “A country such as the United States that is accustomed to telling other nations to be responsible, should, on the one big problem concerning the future of the global [...]

LONDON Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services on Thursday affirmed China’s sovereign long-term credit rating at “AA-” with a stable outlook. The rating reflects China’s “strong economic growth potential, robust external position, and the government’s relatively healthy fiscal position,” S&P said in the release. “We expect no major change in policy directions in China in the wake of the recent top leadership changes,” said credit analyst Kim Eng Tan. “Efforts toward deepening structural and fiscal reforms are likely to continue,” he said. The ratings firm further said that it may upgrade the country’s credit rating if the structural reforms lead to [...]

BEIJING Inflation is the main long-term risk for China as the economy makes a transition from a planned economy to a market-based one and deeper financial reforms are needed to complete the move, central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan said on Saturday. “There is a general tendency for overheating impulses during China’s economic transition process and we should always stress the need to control inflation,” Zhou told a financial forum. “In most occasions, pressures from various sides is to loosen monetary policy to spur growth, but there is less push for preventing economic overheating and inflation,” he said. A main feature [...]

China unveiled the elite group of seven who will set the agenda for the next decade. Leading the group: Xi Jinping, now the nations most powerful man.Now that China’s Communist Party has officially put its stamp on its new leaders, political scientist Willy Lam offers this analysis:“By and large, we have a conservative team,” Lam told CNN. “We can expect no substantial or meaningful movement toward political reform, in favor of staying the course, maintaining political stability and defusing challenges to the party’s authority.”Reformers are concerned that two protégés of former President Hu Jintao – Liu Yuanchao and Wang Yang [...]

Experts explain what they think is China’s biggest challengeEconomist Li Gan stresses the country’s need to get the poor spending Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt from International Crisis Group writes on China’s foreign policyIssues of too many men, sustainable growth and factional splits are said to be issuesEditor’s note: What are the biggest challenges faced by China’s new leaders? We put the question to five experts and here’s what they said. Add your own ideas in the comments section below.Hong Kong — Well that’s that. After one week of mingling with elite Party loyalists, China’s Communist leaders have wrapped up their 18th National [...]

Chance of meaningful reform from China’s new leaders is slimDifferent factions have reached consensus on major national goals An unprecedented number of relatives of party elders have gone into businessReform complicated by vested interests of these “red capitalists”Editor’s note: Willy Lam is Adjunct Professor of History at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Senior Fellow with the Jamestown Foundation in Washington D.C. He is also a regular contributor for CNN on Chinese affairs.Hong Kong — There is only one thing that Chinese and foreign observers of China are looking for at the 18th Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Congress: signs [...]

Despite China’s rapid economic growth, some desire life abroad Some say opaque power transition adding more uncertainty to the country1.5 million Chinese are studying overseas, making it the largest group of foreign students in worldChinese who live overseas and return are called “sea turtles”Beijing — On the leafy campus of Beijing Foreign Studies University, one of China’s most prestigious foreign language schools, graduating senior Gao Yue and her classmates go about their daily routine of studying and playing, showing little sign of anxiety over the impending dive into the real world.Gao, a 22-year-old journalism major, has long planned her future [...]

Can China’s new leader maintain growth? “Even though our year-on-year export growth rate rebounded slightly to 9.9% in September and 11% in October, it remains very difficult for us to achieve the 10% foreign trade growth target for the whole year,” Chen said on the sidelines of the Communist Party’s 18th National Congress in Beijing, according to Xinhua. China’s Middle East trading tiesChen said that China could instead expect to maintain its share of global trade.Last year, China’s trade surged 22.5 percent, however this year weak global demand, higher operating costs and growing trade protectionism were putting pressure on exports, [...]

Beijing has set ambitious targets to increase the income of both rural and city workers to address growing wealth disparity.Economy is a top concern for Chinese leaders as the ruling Communist Party (CCP) gathers Outgoing leader Hu Jintao sets ambitious targets while noting the problem of “income disparity”Study: China’s wealthiest 10% control 57% of total income and 85% of total assetsNew leaders confront a slowing economy, aging workforce and social safety net concerns Much as exit polls in the U.S. show after the election this week, the economy is a top concern for Chinese leaders as the ruling Communist Party [...]