[Hybrid] Is China’s debt sustainable? Go back »
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Time2023-03-15 | 16:00 - 17:40
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Venue:Zoom/European Chamber Office Beijing, Room C405
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Address:
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Fee:Members: 300 |
Non Members: 600
Since the onset of the pandemic three years ago, the stringent containment measures taken by the Chinese Government have led to heavy human and economic costs. With China’s abrupt abandonment of its long-standing zero-COVID strategy in late December 2022, it is evident that the central and local governments are trying hard to realise a strong economic recovery and stamp out risks in the property sector – which accounts for approximately a quarter of China’s economy.
As local authorities take on measures to aid the property sector by providing financial support to debt-laden developers, China’s surging debt burden presents a worrisome prospect of these measures not resulting in a recovery for this problematic industry in the near future, but instead triggering further crises, given China’s excessive reliance on debt in recent years.
What is the outlook for local government debt in 2023? Does China’s rising debt indicate a potential crisis in the years to come? How do we evaluate China’s debt sustainability in comparison to other major economies? What is the sustainable economic growth trajectory for countries with heavy debt burdens?
The European Chamber is pleased to invite you to join our upcoming hybrid event on Wednesday 15th March, at which Dr Ludger Schuknecht, vice president and corporate secretary, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Professor Michael Pettis, professor of finance, Guanghua School of Management at Peking University in Beijing, and Keith Bradsher, Beijing bureau chief, The New York Times will walk through the debt problem faced by China and share insights on debt sustainability from a global perspective.
The event take place from16:00-17:40pm at the European Chamber Beijing Office. It will be off-the-record and held under Chatham House rules.
Onsite seating is limited and will be reserved on a first-come-first-served basis.
Agenda
16:00–16:05 Opening address by Jörg Wuttke, President, European Chamber
16:05–16:30 China’s Debt Problem
- Dr Michael Pettis, Professor of Finance, Guanghua School of Management, Peking University
16:30–17:00 Debt Sustainability from a Global Perspective
- Dr Ludger Schuknecht, Vice President and Corporate Secretary, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
17:00–17:40 Discussion and Q&A
- Keith Bradsher, Beijing bureau chief, The New York Times
- Dr Michael Pettis, Professor of Finance, Guanghua School of Management, Peking University
- Dr Ludger Schuknecht, Vice President and Corporate Secretary, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
Advisory Council Policy
Members of the Advisory Council may receive complimentary admission to Chamber seminars, conferences and factory visits up to two attendees per event. Additional participants will be charged at the member rate.
Advisory Council members will still be charged the standard member rate for participation in training courses and special events, such as gala balls, government appreciation dinners, or admission to corporate social events/tournaments.
For further information contact Luyang Syvänen lsyvanen@europeanchamber.com.cn
Terms & Conditions
Events have limited seating so to ensure your attendance we encourage advance online registration and payment. We cannot guarantee entry to anyone not registered in advance. A confirmation email with instructions on how to join the webinar will be sent to registrants who have paid.
- Members can pay via wechat QR code once registered.
- Non-members will receive an email with a payment code shortly.
Fapiao will be mailed to you within 5-10 working days after the event.
Cancellation Policy
If you cannot attend the event for which you have registered, please cancel your registration no later than one business day prior to the event. If you fail to notify us of your cancellation in a timely fashion, you will be charged for event costs.
To cancel you can: 1) email cdu@europeanchamber.com.cn, or 2) cancel online if you registered for the event through the website.
Speakers
Dr. Michael Pettis
Dr. Michael Pettis
Michael Pettis is a nonresident senior fellow in the Carnegie Asia Program based in Beijing. An expert on China’s economy, Pettis is professor of finance at Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management, where he specializes in Chinese financial markets.
Pettis worked on Wall Street in trading, capital markets, and corporate finance since 1987, when he joined the sovereign debt trading team at Manufacturers Hanover (now JPMorgan). Most recently, from 1996 to 2001, Pettis worked at Bear Stearns, where he was managing director principal heading the Latin American capital markets and the liability management groups. He has also worked as a partner in a merchant-banking boutique that specialized in securitizing Latin American assets and at Credit Suisse First Boston, where he headed the emerging markets trading team.
In addition to trading and capital markets, Pettis has been involved in sovereign advisory work, including for the Mexican government on the privatization of its banking system, the Republic of Macedonia on the restructuring of its international bank debt, and the South Korean Ministry of Finance on the restructuring of the country’s commercial bank debt.
He is the author of several books, including The Great Rebalancing: Trade, Conflict, and the Perilous Road Ahead for the World Economy (Princeton University Press, 2013).
Dr. Ludger Schuknecht
Dr. Ludger Schuknecht
Schuknecht is responsible for AIIB’s relations with its Members, the Board of Governors, the Board of Directors, other aspects of governance including the admission of new Members and the integrity of the Bank’s governance. Before joining AIIB in August 2021, he has held important leadership posts at the national and international levels. Most recently, he was a Visiting Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore. Prior to this role, he was Deputy Secretary-General at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and was previously Chief Economist and Director General of Germany’s Federal Finance Ministry. He has extensive experience working with international financial institutions, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization. He also acted as the Chief Negotiator for Germany in the founding of AIIB, making him one of the architects of AIIB and one of the drafters of its Articles of Agreement. In addition, Schuknecht was Co-chair of the Infrastructure Investment Working Group of the G20. He holds a Vordiplom in Economics from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany; an MA in Economics from George Mason University, USA; and a Ph.D in Economics and a Habilitation in Economics from Universität Konstanz, Germany. Schuknecht is from Germany.
Mr. Keith Bradsher
Mr. Keith Bradsher
Keith Bradsher is the Pulitzer Prize-winning Beijing bureau chief for The New York Times. He previously served as the Shanghai bureau chief, Hong Kong bureau chief and Detroit bureau chief. Before those postings, he was a Washington correspondent for The Times covering the Federal Reserve and international trade, and a New York-based business reporter covering transportation and telecommunications. Mr. Bradsher received a degree in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a Morehead scholar, and a master’s degree in public policy with a concentration in economics from Princeton University. Before joining The Times, Mr. Bradsher wrote for The Los Angeles Times for two years.