Telangana Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao left for China, to showcase the investment attractiveness of the new-born Telangana state. During his nine-day stay in China, the CM is expected to attend, besides world economic forum meeting, conferences, business meetings, visit to industrial towns and of course tourist places. KCR does everything in style. He left for China today hiring a super luxury 50-seat aircraft and with a 16-member delegation consisting of ministers Jagdish Reddy (energy), Jupally Krishna Rao(industry), Swamy Goud (legislative council chairman), Madhusudhana Chary(assembly speaker), Rajya Sabha member K Keshava Rao, MLAs K Eshwar and G Balaraju, chief minister’s political secretary S Subhash Reddy, state’s representative in Delhi Venugopala Chary, senior officials in CMO and industrialists.
According to sources in the government,the CM will explore the possible areas of cooperation and investments in Telanana to the tune of Rs 50,000 crore.
But unfortunately for Telangaan chief minister, he is visiting China at a time when the communist country’s economy has taken a nose dive. The growth rate is falling. Political uncertainty looming large. Stock market crash and devaluation of currency badly affected the image of China globally. The market’s decline has now wiped out more than $3.5 trillion in market value in a month, unparalleled in stock market history. China is not only world’s second largest economy it is also the largest trading nation for 75 countries and is by far the largest importer of commodities in the world, a vital export for many emerging market nations. For the past three decades, China’s economic model was built on three pillars—exports, the property market, and domestic fixed-asset investment. Unfortunately, these three pillars are now started crumbling. The housing market is facing a glut with 70 million unsold homes. In most major cities, residential prices have been falling for 18 months. The return on invested capital is rapidly dropping. Many basic industries, such as steel and cement, are operating at 75 percent capacity or less, and factory prices have been declining for three consecutive years which finally peaked in the stock market collapse on August 24, which the Chinese official news agency called ‘Black Monday’.
China, which has been on the top of world economy, could not foresee this tumble and prevent it. ” For decades, the Chinese Communist Party has been able to keep control of democracy protests, dissidents, the legal system and the military, but it is now facing an even more intractable foe: a plummeting stock market,” commented Washington Post.
What would a country, which is caught up in all round financial crisis, offer to Telangana? Or would the luxury trip simply turn out to be a pleasure trip at the cost of tax-payers’ money?
But, let’s wish the chief minister and his team all the best.
