A pattern is emerging in China - using the stock markets, both domestic and international, to suck up the cash to pay for modernization. We have seen it in the oil and telecom industries and we are just about to see in the power industry.
What sticks out with all these moves is that they reveal a conflict between what is good for shareholders and what is good for the structural improvements of China's economy and its consumers.
China's focus on 'business' is not the same as a focusing on improving the economy. An efficient, well functioning market is good for everybody, including consumers. But business people, especially share investors are not always interested in...