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1. Thread on nexus between investors, corps, Wall St and China. Norges is world’s largest investor - $1.2 trillion in assets. Where Norges goes other investors follow. It leads on decarbonisation and sets tone for lot of ethical (ESG) investors @SariArhoHavren @Aureliano_no_24
2. So when global NGOs start to ask Norges for ethical disinvestment from China then that’s a big issue for CCP http://scandasia.com/several-ngos-
3. Norges Bank helpfully lists all of its investments on its website https://www.nbim.no/en/the-fund/holdings/holdings-as-at-31.12.2019/?fullsize=true
Norges currently holds $35billion in investments in China across 795 positions. And that number & value will increase as investment allocators advise Norges to increase China exposure
Norges currently holds $35billion in investments in China across 795 positions. And that number & value will increase as investment allocators advise Norges to increase China exposure
4. China’s also hoping that number increases to help it fund its USD requirements. It’s getting harder for Chinese corporates to raise capital in offshore markets (esp. US) so it needs them to want to invest onshore. That’s also why China still needs Hong Kong to raise USDs.
5. More interestingly Norges still holds positions in at least four companies listed on US Department of Commerce Sanctions List https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2019-22210.pdf Zhejiang Dahua Technology, Hikvision, Iflytek, and Xiamen Miyazaki Pico Information Co.
6. All these companies were sanctioned because of complicity in Xinjiang labour camps, supply chains or surveillance state. Norges also holds investments in other companies that are extensions of CCP: Tencent (WeChat) and Chinese banks at vanguard of debt-trap BRI diplomacy.
7. It holds positions in neo-mercantilist shipping company China COSCO Shipping (see Piraeus, Greece). Many of its manufacturing investments have been at forefront of decades of IP theft - AVIC, Baosteel, China Avionics - https://www.industryweek.com/the-economy/article/21118569/how-china-stole-an-entire-airplane
8. The headline above reads “How China stole a plane”. It should really read “how China stole an entire industry”. And other investments are catch-all conglomerates for some yet to be determined purpose. China CITIC great example of that type of investor.
9. If you look at international list of investments - lots of names beneficiaries of slave labour in Xinjiang - Apple, BMW, Sony, Gap and Nike https://www.forbes.com/sites/siminamistreanu/2020/03/02/study-links-nike-adidas-and-apple-to-forced-uighur-labor/ Norges is an investor in all of them. Great that Norges is decarbonising, but still profiting from slave labour
10. These international corporates generate significant part of their production in China, large part of earnings in China and most of their future growth is projected to come from China. They’re the primary purveyors of the “engagement and cooperation” deceit.
11. Additionally - Norges holds investment positions in almost every major global bank and asset manager. All of whom are salivating at prospect of asset management or securities licenses
12. Might seem counter-intuitive to approve licences at this time but CCP a) Wall St is biggest cheerleader for engagement and co-op. regardless of Trump & Biden b) has no intention of actually letting them compete in China and c) needs them to cont. to pump USDs into mainland.
13. Which is why Wall St is biggest beneficiary of engagement with China and likely biggest enemy of disengagement and disinvestment. Trump & Biden irrelevant. Biggest enemy is finance capitalism - because CCP knows it can be bought, co-opted and coerced by elite capture.
14. None of this is about Norges - it’s same with every major investor - CalPERS, Federal Thrift and Military Retirement. And if you’re consuming products from corps that extract sig. profits & growth from China (AAPL) then you’re funding a regime that views you as an enemy
15. You’re investing in an adversarial state that is evidently bent on at least regional economic, cultural, political and military hegemony, importing its totalitarian system into your democracy and having RoW pander to its historical insecurities. At best.
