Cash-Strapped City? Chinese Capital to the Rescue!

In a development that has surprised absolutely no one, both presidential candidates have been firing up their best anti-China rhetoric as November starts to loom. Their words may fail to deliver votes in some urban circles, where Chinese investment is seen as an increasingly attractive new source of development capital and jobs.

In Toledo, Mayor Michael Bell -- who has traveled to China three times in the past two years and whose business card features his name in Chinese on the back -- last week hosted a conference of 150 Chinese investors even as both candidates swapped China-bashing zingers to prove their commitment to the domestic economy.

"There is a difference between the political rhetoric and what is actually happening in the country," says Mr Bell, whose city faces a large budget deficit. "All we are trying to do is to get people to invest in our city."

Thanks to Rachel Proctor May