In November 2017, the Chinese Vice Finance Minister announced the government's intention to remove the limits on foreign ownship in commercial banks, asset management firms, securities firms, and...Show moreIn November 2017, the Chinese Vice Finance Minister announced the government's intention to remove the limits on foreign ownship in commercial banks, asset management firms, securities firms, and fund management firms. A few months later, the Governor of the People's Bank of China offered what can be considered a timeline for implementation. Although subsequent information has been very scarce and no specific rules have been issued, yet, the author's interest was so much piqued that he has written a thesis that speculates about the government's motivations to decide in this manner. With speculation as the driving force, in order to establish what foreign ownership may mean for a national banking sector in general and the Chinese one in particular, the author presents an overview of seminal research into this field as it has been published in the first decade of the century and has not been published since. Comparative studies on countries that show similarities with China also are presented. The Chinese banking sector, much like the political system, is like a black box. Few studies have appeared that describe the state of the financial sector in a non-partisan way. Nonetheless, the author has identified a number of existing problems that might be assuaged by allowing foreign ownership, by testing them against a number of hypotheses that have been distilled from the general literature. Again, speculation is the defining word, but on the basis of rational arguments, a number of very convincing reasons are presented why the Chinese government may decide to open up its financial sector to outside ownership.Show less
The thesis addresses the growing role of strategic Chinese investments among European economies. More specifically, it focuses on the case of Germany, a country which has been one of the highest...Show moreThe thesis addresses the growing role of strategic Chinese investments among European economies. More specifically, it focuses on the case of Germany, a country which has been one of the highest beneficiaries of Chinese capital over the last decade. Investments from Chinese enterprises span across pivotal German industries (such as automotive, heavy engineering, and financial services). As a result, the research aims to investigate why the German economy and its industrial sector is a strategically important investment channel for Chinese companies on the basis of four identified hypotheses. The parameters for gauging the aforesaid framework would include technological know-how, credit risk, macroeconomic synergies, and ease of conducting business over a selected sample of European case studies in juxtaposition with Germany’s. The objective is to measure Germany’s economic competency in relation to its European counterparts, which can partially explain the behaviour of Chinese firms in regards to their expansive financial footprint in Berlin vis-a-vis other European economiesShow less
