Markets

President Xi Jinping’s economic thinking – “Xiconomics” – reflects the kind of adjustment that is required by Chinese rebalancing in a challenging international environment. Three years ago, sinologists in the West – led by Barclays Capital – introduced the term...

The regional order in East Asia is in flux. The relative decline of US power in Asia has led to new challenges. The principles, rules, norms and methods for managing the international agenda are being questioned. The willingness of the...

China’s rise as a quasi-superpower represents the most important change in the international system in the 21st century. China is now widely viewed as the de facto strategic rival of the United States and a potential challenger to US global...

Is India emerging as a great power? French President François Hollande’s recent trip to India included a joint statement with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which focused on security cooperation. This encouraged some speculative enthusiasm regarding India’s ‘widening role’ in...

We think that it is still too early to say whether Friday's price action was simply profit taking ahead of the weekend, or the resumption of overall negative market sentiment.  We think the global backdrop remains conducive for risk, at...

The Doi Moi (renovation) policy initiated by the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) in 1986 transformed Vietnam’s economy at the time. However, the 30-year-old Doi Moi policies have long run out of steam. If Vietnam wants to catch up with...

India’s Special Economic Zones (SEZ) policy, announced in April 2000, has been the single most important initiative ever taken by the Indian government to promote private investment in industrial activity. It is not the first time that India has tried...

After one of the most highly contested Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP) elections to date, the incumbent General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong was re-elected to the top post of the Vietnamese regime in late January. However, victory in the elections is...

Is the so-called ‘Islamic State’ (IS) militant group gaining a foothold in the Philippines? The declaration of the first IS wilayat (province) in Southeast Asia appeared possible after Filipino and Malaysian militants from previously separate jihadist groups pledged allegiance to...

When Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn flagged up the potential re-nationalisation of British railways, and later made similar comments about the energy industry, his ideas were dismissed as a return to the past. However, the evidence is that the public...

Malaysia’s leadership must be extremely satisfied on two counts: their success in negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement and the parliament’s favourable position on the agreement. It is amazing that Malaysia has negotiated to preserve the Bumiputera agenda, obtain a...

India’s 2015–2020 foreign trade policy aims to increase merchandise exports from US$450 billion in 2013–14 to US$750 billion by 2020. This will be difficult to achieve. More than a year of negative exports growth has raised concerns about India’s ability...

As the Communist Party of Vietnam prepared for its five-year national congress, suspense built over who would take over the party’s helm. When the curtain was finally lifted on 25 January 2016, supporters of populist Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung...

1) Indonesia announced it will allow full foreign ownership in many local industries in an effort to boost foreign investment, 2) The Thai military government called a referendum on the new constitution on July 31, 3) Poland’s ruling Law and...

On 14 January 2016, Indonesian supporters of so-called Islamic State (IS) militant group launched a coordinated bomb and gun assault in the heart of Jakarta. The attack is a game changer for terrorism in Indonesia. However, Indonesia’s leaders are closing...