Seminar with S&P

On October 27, 2011, Tsinghua University Center for China in the World Economy (CCWE) held a closed-door seminar with several representatives from the credit rating agency Standard & Poor's. Jean-Michel Six, Standard & Poor's Chief European Economist, and Ping Chew, Managing Director, Greater China President, led the discussion on the Standard & Poor's side. In addition to CCWE Director David Daokui Li, Chinese participants included academics from various universities throughout China and officials from China’s central bank. The majority of the seminar focused on the current financial and economic difficulties that are being faced in Europe. Mr. Six gave an overview of S&P’s analysis of these countries and the implications that the findings have for Europe's future recovery and success. The United States' economic and financial situation and the reasons for S&P’s recent downgrade of U.S. debt were also discussed. In addition, the participants also addressed China’s current economic situation and Mr. Chew explained that rumors of an upcoming downgrade of Chinese sovereign debt are untrue.