China’s top lender to sell stakes in US tech firms
By ANNA REEDMAN-LEHRERChina’s top bank will sell its stakes in a number of American tech companies, the Wall Street Journal reports, as the nation’s leaders prepare to sign a major trade pact.
The Chinese central bank will invest around US$6.4 billion in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., according to a person familiar with the matter.
The bank’s role is unclear, the source said.
The bank will also buy US$1.2 billion in the San Francisco-based tech firm Zynga Inc., the person said, without providing details.
Zynga, which has offices in the US and the European Union, was founded by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
The news comes as President Donald Trump, who has promised to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), considers the trade deal a critical part of his economic agenda.
In recent weeks, Trump has taken aim at the agreement, calling it a “disaster”.
“The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is dead,” Trump tweeted on October 3.
“No more NAFTA!”
“Our companies are leaving the country, and we have no choice but to exit.
The TPP is a disaster,” he said in a separate tweet on October 10.
The deal is expected to be signed in late December, although the two sides have been negotiating on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
Trump has repeatedly questioned whether the pact will actually create jobs.
“We are going to be looking at tariffs on certain items like steel, aluminum, and many other things,” he told a group of business leaders at a Trump Tower meeting in New York in October.
The White House has repeatedly pushed back on the deal, insisting that it would help American manufacturers, as well as encourage foreign investment.
China is one of the world’s biggest economies, with more than $100 trillion in gross domestic product (GDP), and is a key partner for US-China trade.
The US, a major trading partner, has made it a priority to boost exports.
Zygap has a strong presence in the Chinese market, but the company’s business model relies on the internet-based social network, which is widely used in China.
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