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Hu s coup 胡的精囊妙计 THE price is so trivial it will not have a discernible impact on the buyer, ICBC, the Chinese bank that is the worlds biggest by value. By the time the acquisition is approved, it may well have been forgotten by most outsiders. And yet, it could be a transformative deal whose full implications will take years to emerge. 如此微不足道的价格，对于坐拥世界最大市值的中国工商银行这种买家来说恐怕没什么显而易见的影响。等它的战略价值被众所周知的时候，这笔买卖可能早就已经被大多数局外人抛诸脑后了。但它的变革性意义将在数年之后完整地突显出来。 Almost lost amid the many transactions signed on January 21st to coincide with the visit of Chinas President Hu Jintao to America was an agreement by ICBC to buy 80% of the Bank of East Asias small, almost profitless, retail-branch network in New York and California for $140m. If approved, the transaction would be significant because for the first time a Chinese mainland bank would have activities operating under Americas regulatory framework. But its importance goes beyond that. A tick in the box by American regulators, expected by the end of the year, would mean that they have endorsed the soundness of Chinas government controlled and politically directed banking system. That has been a barrier to Chinese banks expanding in America. | 
