20 Business Spotlight 6/2019 GLOBAL BUSINESS
Fotos: instagram; Starcevic/iStock.comCommission, urging Brussels to redefine Eu-
rope’s “economic sovereignty” in a time of hard
new global facts.
Quote from the paper: “There are many
threats to European economic sovereignty,
ranging from structural demo-
graphic and technological trends
to lone-wolf hackers in their par-
ents’ basement revealing state
secrets. But two great powers —
China and the United States —
represent specific and particularly
difficult problems for the Europe-
an Union because of their unique
capacities and approaches to the
international economic order. The two coun-
tries present distinct chal lenges, but overlap in
one important respect: both increasingly link
their international economic policies to their
geopolitical goals and seek to use economic
tools to secure geopolitical advantage.”Bonds and beans
Financial markets are worried that China
might weaponize its holdings of more than
$1.1 trillion worth of US treasuries in retalia-
tion for the tariffs the Trump administration
has imposed on Chinese imports.
According to Reuters, China has
the world’s largest stockpile of for-
eign-exchange reserves, at more
than $3 trillion, and much of that
is denominated in US dollars gath-
ered through its ongoing trade sur-
plus with the United States since
the early 1990s.
Many analysts believe that Chi-
na has not opted to sell its US bonds because a
collapse in their prices would bring down the
value of China’s remaining treasury debt, and
any damage done to the US economy by such a
move would also be felt in China, as America is
where nearly one fifth of all Chinese exports go.Financial
markets are
worried that
China might sell
its holding of
US assetsDayi Zhang:
“the queen of e-commerce”
“Political power grows out
of the barrel of a gun,” said
Chairman Mao Zedong, the
father of modern China. To-
day, political power is increas-
ingly soft power, and it often
grows out of a mobile phone
marketed by Huawei, Oppo
or Xiaomi.
Last year, Chinese influ-
encer Dayi Zhang, “the queen
of e-commerce”, sold more
than one billion yuan (about
€129 million) worth of fash-
ion items through her online
store, which puts out more
than 1,000 different prod-
ucts each year. Zhang live-
streams on Taobao, a Chineseshopping website based in
Hangzhou and owned by
Alibaba, and she recently at-
tended Paris Fashion Week
and sent photos of the latest
designs back to China.
There, Ruhnn Holding, one
of the country’s largest in-
fluencer management com-
panies, got to work. Ruhnn’s
clothing manufacturing team
can create virtual prototypes
within four hours, along with
designs that can be sent at
once to Zhang’s fans. China
wants more influence today,
and its influencers pay more
attention to Kylie (Jenner)
than Mao (Zedong).barrel of a gun
[)bÄrEl Ev E (gVn]
, Gewehrlaufchairman [(tSeEmEn]
, Vorsitzender
item [(aItEm]
, Artikelbasement [(beIsmEnt]
, Keller
impose sth. on sth.
[Im(pEUz Qn]
, etw. für etw. einführen
lone-wolf [)lEUn (wUlf]
, hier: allein agierend
(lone wolf
, Einzelkämpfer(in),
Eigenbrötler(in))
opt to do sth.
[)Qpt tE (du:]
, sich dafür entscheiden,
etw. zu tun
overlap [)EUvE(lÄp]
, sich überschneiden; hier:
Gemeinsamkeiten haben
quote [kwEUt]
, Zitat
retaliation: in ~
[ri)tÄli(eIS&n]
, als Vergeltung
reveal sth. [ri(vi:&l]
, etw. preisgeben
stockpile [(stQkpaI&l]
, Vorrat; hier: Bestände
tariff [(tÄrIf]
, Zoll(gebühr)
treasury [(treZEri]
, Staatsanleihe
treasury debt
[(treZEri det]
, Staatsverschuldung;
hier auch: staatliche
Verbindlichkeiten
trillion [(trIljEn]
, Billion(en)
unique [ju(ni:k]
, hier: spezifisch
urge sb. to do sth.
[)§:dZ tE (du:]
, jmdn. drängen,
etw. zu tun
weaponize sth.
[(wepEnaIz]
, etw. als Waffe einsetzenFashionable
and influential:
Dayi Zhang