The Chinese are famous for taking a long view of history. It is an attribute that might be usefully applied in the recent unseemly squabbles in Beijing over the sale to foreigners of shares in state-owned banks.
After the success of China Construction Bank’s $9 billion IPO in Hong Kong, factions within Chinese government circles have accused the country’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China, and, in particular, governor Zhou Xiao Chuan, of selling shares in the big state-owned banks at knock-down prices. They point to the rapid appreciation in the share price of CCB since the IPO as evidence that foreigners have been...
