Word: ironed
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...mistake: Beijing has not decided staying home is better than "Going Out." State companies are still sitting on mountains of cash, and although China's economy is slowing, officials see the global recession as a prime opportunity to cheaply acquire holdings of strategically important natural resources such as iron ore, copper, oil and gas - commodities China's leadership knows it will need much more of in the long run. In the past month, Chinese companies have bought assets abroad at an unprecedented pace. Aluminum Corp. of China (Chinalco), a major holding company focused on resources, has announced plans to invest...
...deals are not without controversy, particularly in Australia, where some are worried that control of vital resources is being handed over to the Chinese. Chinalco is a huge consumer of iron ore, and mining companies fear that the investment in Rio Tinto could give China more influence over the price of iron in global commodities markets. Every year, steel and aluminum producers worldwide dicker with the big raw-material producers over new contracts. During the boom years, when Chinese companies' appetite for virtually every metal was voracious, they got stuck with stiff price increases. But the deal could give Chinalco...
...Considering how far mineral prices have fallen, some analysts believe Chinalco might actually be paying a premium for Rio Tinto assets. But BOC International's Xu says "the price is much, much lower for the assets - particularly iron ore and copper - than it would have been just six months ago. This seems like a pretty good deal." As long as commodity prices are depressed, Chinese companies - having learned the pitfalls of "Going Out" - are likely to be ravenous buyers...
...governments. The need to “stick it out in tough times” is easier said than done. The largest and most threatening fracture divides new EU countries from old and has caused Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany of Hungary to warn against “a new Iron Curtain” that could once again divide the continent. A solution must be formulated to prevent that development...
...Gyurcsany has appealed for $230 billion in aid for eastern member states who have been hardest hit by the economic crisis, plus streamlined access to the Eurozone, or the 16 countries who use Europe's common currency. Without help, he says, there is likely to be a new economic "Iron Curtain" across Europe. (See pictures of the changes in Europe...