JPMorgan’s $415 Mln Tie-Up With Wealth Firm Highlights Contradictory U.S. Impulses Toward China

Bitter, high-profile talks between the U.S. and China in Alaska on Thursday and Friday were followed over the weekend with speculation of a downward lurch into an even more difficult era of ties between the two countries. “Defying U.S., China and Russia Set the Tone for a Cold, New Era,” the New York Times reported in a front-page story today.

Consider, however, this news item from just two days earlier:   China Merchants Bank, one of China’s largest financial institutions,  announced that JPMorgan Asset Management (Asia Pacific) would pay $415 million for a 10% stake in its wealth management arm.

The move will let the U.S. bank profit from the country’s growing number of rich. The U.S. still has more millionaires than any other country, but China recorded the largest gains in the first half of 2020, with…