Silk Road gold: President Xi Jinping invokes Ming dynasty heroes, geopolitical development strategies and wild Asian geese analogies to portray China’s New Silk Roads initiative as the flagship of a trade-focussed new world order. Pepe Escobar writes that the big question now is how skillfully China can deploy soft power to rewrite the rules of the global trade game without upsetting other key players. READ THE STORY HERE
The massive infrastructure projects, along with hundreds of others across Asia, Africa and Europe, form the backbone of China’s ambitious economic and geopolitical agenda. President Xi Jinping of China is literally and figuratively forging ties, creating new markets for the country’s construction companies and exporting its model of state-led development in a quest to create deep economic connections and strong diplomatic relationships. – New York Times
China’s economic activity weakened more than expected last month on flagging factory demand, part of an anticipated gradual slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy for the rest of 2017. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Editorial: While it’s good that Mr. Trump has pulled back from protectionism, dampening the swings in the way his Administration portrays China relations would bring better results. Mr. Ross’s accomplishment would have found a more appreciative reception if he had simply said that hard negotiating gets results from Beijing but much work remains to be done. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)