Xi meets Sierra Leone President; Li Qiang meets US business delegation; Local debt messes; Quants and rule of law in the market
Summary of today’s Essential Eight:
Xi meets with the president of Sierra Leone - Xi met with President Bio Tuesday. Bio is on a six day visit to the PRC. We got the first images of Xi since February 9. The two countries signed a Joint Statement between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Sierra Leone on Deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, as well as several bilateral cooperation documents.
Li Qiang meets with US Chamber of Commerce delegation - From the official reports Li said some of the right things for a US business delegation to hear, but skepticism and fatigue now run so deep that it will take a lot more than more promises and dangling of things like “U.S. companies are welcome to continue investing in China and deepening their presence in the Chinese market to share the development opportunities”.
ASIO comments about PRC espionage and influence efforts - Mike Burgess, Director-General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO), had…