SHANGHAI: German car maker Volkswagen AG signed what looked like a meaty deal with one of its China joint ventures this week at a huge new trade show in Shanghai to ship almost US$9 billion worth of cars and parts to China next year. But it turns out the “Memorandum of Cooperation”, one of hundreds of deals inked at the China International Import Expo that wraps up on Saturday, represents business as usual for VW. Two sources close to the company and its FAW-Volkswagen tie-up said the joint venture would have imported the cars and parts with or without the expo to support its day-to-day manufacturing and sales operations, as it does every year. FAW-Volkswagen did not have an immediate comment. While the giant import fair is a key part of China’s response to growing complaints about its commercial policies, critics said the tightly choreographed event was more show than substance that failed to address core issues at the heart of the festering U.S.-China trade war. “I don’t think we’re holding out high hopes for the expo in terms of improving China’s trade relationship with the rest of the world,” said Duncan Innes-Ker, regional director for Asia at the Economist Intelligence Unit. “People really want to see a generalized improvement in the fairness of the operating environment, not a specific commitment to importing more in this particular year or whatever.” State media has lavished praise on the event, which was headlined by President Xi Jinping, who provided few specifics in… [Read full story]
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