5 Of The Major Trends In International Business

As the economies of countries around the world continue to develop, foreign trade and an interdependence of firms, markets, and countries continues to growth and expand. This development has lead to intense competition among different countries, industries, and firms to claim their share within the global markets. There are several major trends influencing the growth of international business, and how the players in the international arena interact. Here are 5 of the major international business trends.

1) Forced Dynamism

International business is a complex topic because the environmentally is constantly changing. Business continually push for new ways to expand and grow, adopting new technologies in the process. The cultures and politics that shape countries and they ways in which these countries act are continually changing as well. These factors all influence the ways in which global economies develop and interact with each other.

2) Cooperation Among Countries

Countries cooperate and conduct business with each other through thousands of different international organizations, treaties, and consultations. This cooperation tends to encourage globalization because restrictions on business operations tend to become less restricted. Business and countries are able to benefit from more cooperation because they can grow their markets, solve more complex problems, and deal with concerns that lie outside of one’s territory.

3) Liberalization of Cross-Border Movements

In one way or another, every country restricts the movement across its borders of goods, services, and resources. These restrictions tend to limit international trade and business. However, countries today impose much fewer restrictions on cross-border movements than they did in the past. This has allowed companies to take advantage of opportunities, and markets, around the world. When countries are more open to cross-border movements, consumers have better access to a greater variety of goods and services at a lower price. This also creates more competition, forcing producers to become more efficient because they are competing with foreign companies.

4) Transfer of Technology

Technology transfer refers to the process by which commercial technology is disseminated to governments and businesses around the world. When two organizations agree to a technology transfer, all areas of the economy and society benefit, including research and education, transportation, employment, infrastructure, and agriculture among others.

5) Growth in Emerging Markets

The growth of emerging markets has benefited international business in two major ways. First, they have increased the potential size of markets, giving companies a greater number of people to sell their products or services too. Second, as these markets grow, they are developing an entire new generation of innovative companies that can help address the world’s most pressing issues.

China Is Trying To Rewrite The Rules Of The Global Internet

James Torpey

The second World Internet Conference began yesterday in the eastern Chinese city of Wuzhen. Chinese leaders are organizing at this conference in an attempt to reframe the future of the internet. The conference will continue through Friday, with President Xi Jinping delivering the keynote speech.

The World Internet Conference is part of a larger Chinese effort to redefine debates over cybersecurity, national sovereignty, and censorship.

Chinese leaders have been pushing for the idea of “cyber sovereignty,” which is the idea that each country’s government should maintain independent control over what content is available online within its own borders. There are already a number of countries that censor online content they deem illegal, however, cyber sovereignty takes on an entirely new dimension in China. The country blocks many of the global web giants such as Google, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram.

Jeremy Goldkorn, the founder of China-focused service Danwei.com and a long-time commentator on the country’s internet, spoke with The WorldPost to explain the impact of China’s push for cyber sovereignty.

How has the Chinese government employed the terms: “cyber sovereignty” and “Internet sovereignty?”

The use of these terms has allowed the Chinese government to argue that they should be absolutely in control of what’s happening on the Internet in China. This has allowed China to take a more confident approach to talking about internet censorship.

Previously it had been a situation where they were trying to make excuses for it at press conferences. The consistent use of these terms has paved the way for a renewed confidence and almost a kind of nationalist, implying that control of the Internet was part of China being a strong country.

How much do you attribute this new confidence to the fallout from the Edward Snowden revelations, and how much to the recognition of China’s strong bargaining power concerning the major Silicon Valley players?

Not surprisingly, Snowden is cited in almost any Chinese government discussion of Internet policy, whether it concerns cybersecurity, hacking, or censorship. But the dynamism of the Chinese language Web sector and the truth that the Silicon Valley giants all want to be here is certainly another issue that they use.

The World Internet Conference attracts Silicon Valley heavyweights. Furthermore, during Xi’s visit to the United States, there was a meeting in Seattle with Facebook’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, and the others all attending, almost looking like tributary states.

Another thing that exists is the very real fear of an uncontrolled Internet, brought about by social media, which is a really serious threat to Communist Party control over the country. The watershed moment was the Wenzhou train crash of July 2011 when the party completely lost control of the narrative. Instead, social media was telling the story. This moment supported their views about the threat of an uncontrolled Internet and made that a real factor.

Recently there’s been increased discussion of the Great Firewall as not just an issue of human rights, but also protectionism for local Internet companies. Do you see any leverage for the U.S. pressing these concerns from a free trade perspective?

I could see the United States Internet companies and the U.S. government using the World Trade Organization or some other kind of platform to apply some non-human rights pressure on the wall or restrictions on foreign companies operating in China. Although we have not seen much evidence of this taking place so far. It is a difficult thing when the foreign Internet companies are eager to get a slice of the market; Google apparently has started a company in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, and it looks like it’s trying to get back in.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. To learn more about China’s attempts to rewrite the rules of the global internet, please check out this article.

China’s Economic Growth Declines To 6.9 Percent, Six Year Low

china-economy-james-torpey

China’s economy decelerated in the latest quarter to a six-year low of 6.9%, the slowest since early 2009 in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. The unstable Chinese economy has fueled concerns of a worsening world economy that may be entering a period of low growth that could extend into next year.

China’s economy has been under a microscope this past year as its slowdown has unnerved global financial markets and held down growth in countries that export raw materials to China, such as Brazil and Australia.

The growing concerns over China has affected the United States as well. This past month, Federal Reserve mentioned China’s slowdown and unstable economic conditions as one of the factors in their decision to not increase short-term American interest rates. The Fed’s main concern in their decision was the low U.S. inflation, which suggests that there is weakness in the United States economy as well.

China has cut interest rates five times since last November in an effort to shore up growth. However, the country has continued to experience weakening trade and manufacturing. China has also experienced a contraction in construction output, which has a significant impact on their demand for oil, iron ore and other commodities. These conditions in China have dragged down growth in Australia, Brazil and other suppliers as a result.

According to Louis Kuijs, one of the forecasters for Oxford Economics,”continued downward pressures from real estate and exports caused GDP growth to drop. But robust consumption and infrastructure prevented a sharper slowdown.”

Rising Chinese incomes has driven demand for European wines, wheat and fresh fruit from Australia and the United States, medical technology and other imports. The growth in consumption has been the one bright spot in the Chinese economy.

The rise in consumption, however, has not been enough to drive the overall economy in a positive direction. To make matters worse, some analyst are skeptical that the real numbers are even worse than reported. These analyst believe the true growth rate is likely to be below 4% and that these reported numbers have been exaggerated amid pressure from Beijing.

All Eyes On September 17: Federal Reserve Will Announce Interest Rate Decision

The Federal Reserve will meet on September 17th to decide, yet again, whether nor not to raise interest rates. The date is approaching fast with investors and economists alike focused on figuring out what is going to happen.

Following the recession, interest rates have remained at near 0 percent level, which has now spanned a total of eight years. The FED is nervous about the negative impacts which could result if they were to tighten the economy too soon. This is why they have avoided raising rates for this long and are still skeptical of whether or not the economy is finally ready.

A September interest rate was expected by many traders and economists. They have  dissected every economic data point, every comment from Federal Reserve officials, and every official statement released. But as September 17th draws closer, they are no longer so certain.

The Federal Open Market Committee released the minutes from their July meetings this past Wednesday, and based on the tone of these meetings, many are more confused about Federal Reserve’s plans now more than ever. Bank of America Merrill Lynch has reduced their predictions for a September liftoff down to a one-in-three chance.

While the liftoff may not take place in September, it is apparent that there is growing support for a change. As the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis describes in a recent research paper, after six years of quantitative easing that swelled the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet to $4.5 trillion, the policy has “has been ineffective in increasing inflation” and appears to have only boosted stock prices.

However, if no rate hike happens in September many believe that a 2015 hike will unlikely to happen at all. Societe Generale economist Aneta Markowska notes that neither October nor December are attractive options as October lacks a scheduled press conference and December coincides with lower year-end trading volumes, which would magnify a potential bond market selloff.

For now, all traders and economists can do is wait and see what the Federal Reserve decides to do. While we wait for September 17 to approach, we can be sure to expect some interesting activity on the stock market.

To learn more about the activity surrounded the Federal Reserve meeting, check out this article here.