Buyer of little choice

Fair or not, both the collapse of Chinalco's Rio deal and the planned sale of GM's Hummer brand to a little-known Chinese company shows that China still does not enjoy much buyer power in the global market.

Yet this is not necessarily bad. In fact, it can serve as motivation for the country to look deeper within for the engine to drive its economy. China can better tap its inner dynamism to become a global consumer market than simply remain a buyer of little choice.

For Chinese policymakers who are encouraging domestic enter-prises to expand overseas, the recent cases surely look disappointing. With more than $1.9 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, the country is eager to spend some of this wealth on purchasing what is needed to sustain its economic growth.