Germany takes aim at China on trade on eve of key visit

FRANKFURT, Oct. 31 (AFP)

Germany's economy minister Sigmar Gabriel on Monday launched a fresh attack on "unfair
and aggressive trade practices" by China ahead of a visit to the country.
"Ducking away from this confrontation would be just as bad as arrogance and ignorance
towards Chinese interests," he wrote in Die Welt newspaper. Tensions over trade are mounting
between Berlin and Beijing in advance of the visit starting Tuesday, during which Gabriel is due
to meet with Premier Li Keqiang.
Gabriel's remarks follow a refusal at the weekend from Germany's European Commissioner
Guenther Oettinger to take back comments in which he called the Chinese "slitty eyed" and
"chiselers" who were unfairly buying up leading German and EU high-tech firms while blocking
deals in the other direction.
In his editorial, Gabriel pointed to China's selling of subsidised steel abroad, a potential new
quota system for electric cars, and Chinese acquisitions of German and European high-tech firms
as causing concern in Berlin and across the EU.
Despite an agreement for Beijing to address steel overcapacity reached at September's G20
meeting in Hangzhou, he argued, China continues to sell the metal at "dumping prices" on global
markets in a "blatant infraction" of trade rules. The European Commission had been forced to
slap tariffs on some Chinese steel products in a "measure of last resort," Gabriel added.
He also took aim at Chinese plans for a quota system for "new energy" vehicles, such as
electric cars -- which he said could see German car exporters' edge in internal-combustion
engines undermined -- and high Chinese hurdles to inward investment by foreign firms that
Gabriel argues show a lack of "reciprocity" from Beijing.
"If you want to invest in other parts of the world, you can't block investment from those
countries in your own," he wrote. However, Germany and the EU must "learn to distinguish
cases where a state-controlled firm links acquiring technologies with geopolitical extension of
power," Gabriel wrote.

Carney to Stay at BOE Until June 2019 to Help Address

Brexit
LONDON, Nov. 1 (Bloomberg)
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney will extend his time in office by a year to 2019 to
guide the economy through Britains split from the European Union.
Choosing a middle path between leaving in 2018 as planned or remaining until 2021 as
entitled, Carney said in a letter to Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond that by staying
until June 2019, he will help with an orderly transition to the U.K.s new relationship with
Europe.
The decision ends months of speculation about the 51-year-old Canadians future that raged
as he led the charge to safeguard financial markets and the economy following Junes
referendum. By providing continuity at the central bank, its likely to soothe investor concerns
over the uncertainties that still lie ahead as the U.K. negotiates its break with the EU, which is
scheduled to occur shortly before he steps down.
Still, Prime Minister Theresa May will have to search for a new governor just as the talks are
reaching their climax and find one skilled enough to manage the post-Brexit economy. Carneys
decision to stay put is also likely to irk those Conservative lawmakers who accused him of
showing political bias during the referendum campaign and then of overreacting to the result and
underestimating the economys resilience.