The tiny African nation of Djibouti measures 23,200 square kilometers and is home to about 800,000 people, but within a few years - and with a little help from the Chinese - it expects to have two brand-new airport hubs large enough to handle 100,000 tonnes of cargo and 2 million passengers annually.

Is China guilty, as charged by U.S. traders, of keeping its currency artificially weak?

China has become by far Africa's biggest trading partner, exchanging about $160bn worth of goods a year; more than a million Chinese, most of them labourers and traders, have moved to the continent in the past decade. The mutual adoration between governments continues, with ever more African roads and mines built by Chinese firms. But the talk of Africa becoming Chinese - or "China’s second continent", as the title of one American book puts it - is overdone.

Attacks against small tankers off South East Asia's coasts caused a rise in global ship hijackings, up to 21 in 2014 from 12 in 2013, despite piracy at sea falling to its lowest level in eight years, the International Chamber of Commerce International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has revealed. Pirates took 442 crew members hostage, compared with 304 in 2013.

Trade between the European Union and Canada is already very strong – and growth is expected to continue as a result of an historic new trade agreement now being finalized in Ottawa, according to the British International Freight Association. The Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is said to be Canada’s most ambitious trade initiative, broader in scope and deeper in ambition than the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Call it the dark side of international commerce: fakes, frauds and thought thieves. Time to take action.

China will be the focus of many, many boardroom discussions around the world in 2015. Unlike most previous years, the topic won't be whether to double down on China - it will be whether to hold or even reduce exposure to a particular sector or the country overall. With China experiencing lower growth, greater competition, and more volatility, it won’t only be multinational companies having these conversations.

It's a government program. It involves technology. And it's a good thing.