Wen Jiabao

China's 2010 inflation goal of 3 percent is tough but achievable, with good grain supplies and excess capacity helping keep prices down, while growth should hit 8 or 9 percent, senior government advisers told a conference on Saturday. The chief economist of the National Bureau of Statistics, Yao Jingyuan, told the China High Level Development Forum that the government was battling a range of forces pushing up consumer prices this year -- a key concern in Beijing. Consumer prices rose 2.7 percent in th

Achieving this year's target of keeping the increase in the consumer price index at around 3 percent will be quite difficult, but... it can be achieved   -Yao Jingyuan

 

China's southern province of Guangdong will raise its minimum wage by an average of more than 20 percent, amid worries that its factories cannot find enough workers to complete their orders. The minimum wage in the country's largest export hub will be increased by 19.5-24.5 percent from May, said a statement posted Thursday on the Guangdong Labour and Social Security Bureau. The rise will translate into a minimum wage of up to 1,030 yuan (151 dollars) in the provincial capital of Guangzhou, and about 660  

The yuan has been locked in place against the dollar for nearly two years as Beijing has effectively re-pegged its exchange rate to buffer China's economy against the ravages of the global financial crisis. While the European Union, Canada and a handful of developing countries have all criticized this policy, it is the United States that has taken the lead in threatening to punish China if it does not revalue the yuan. China defiantly restated its commitment to a stable yuan after the U.S. Senate this

The direction of yuan reform will be gradual and controlled   -Chen Deming

 

Morgan Stanley Asia Chairman Stephen Roach said that Paul Krugman 's call to push China to allow a stronger yuan is "very bad" advice and that increased Chinese spending is a better way of reducing trade imbalances. "We should take out the baseball bat on Paul Krugman -- I mean I think that the advice is completely wrong," Roach said in an Bloomberg Television interview in Beijing when asked about Krugman's call, characterized as akin to taking a baseball bat to China. "We're lashing out at China rather

We should take out the baseball bat on Paul Krugman -- I mean I think that the advice is completely wrong   -Stephen Roach

 

The current account trade deficit widened in the fourth quarter, reflecting an improving economy, but the imbalance for all of 2009 fell to the lowest point in eight years. Economists believe the deficit will increase in 2010 but not return to the record heights seen before the recession. The Commerce Department said Thursday the deficit in the October-December quarter jumped 12.9 percent to $115.6 billion, as imports of oil, autos and other foreign products outpaced the gains in U.S. exports.

The recession may have temporarily watered down global imbalances but old habits die hard   -Gregory Daco

 

Chinese Vice-Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan will pay a three-day visit to the United States from March 24 to strengthen economic and trade cooperation, said a statement posted on the official website of the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) Friday. The visit was aimed at expanding bilateral trade and promoting the healthy and stable development of the Sino-US economic and trade relations, the statement said. Zhong would also negotiate with the US administration over Sino-US trade issues in an effort to incr  

Yuan forwards rose for the first time this week on speculation government tests to gauge the impact of a stronger currency on exporters will pave the way for appreciation to resume. The 12-month non-deliverable contract retreated earlier in the week after Premier Wen Jiabao said March 14 that the yuan was not undervalued, rebuffing U.S. calls for China to scrap a de facto dollar peg that was introduced in July 2008. U.S. senators revived a bill this week that would determine if a nation's currency is un

A couple of weeks back there was similar news that they were trying to assess how much appreciation exporters can take   -Dariusz Kowalczyk

 

China and Bangladesh have agreed to work together on oil and gas exploration in the Bay of Bengal—where Western firms have hesitated because of territorial disputes with Burma and India. China will also help fund refurbishment and expansion of the key Bangladeshi port of Chittagong, and the two sides have moved closer on proposals for road and railway links between southwest China and Chittagong. The agreements were signed this week while Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is in Beijing and Kunm

The line would have to go through Burma, as would any roads links, because it’s highly unlikely the Chinese would win the cooperation of India to aid Bangladesh’s development   -Collin Reynolds

 

China is sending a Cabinet official to Washington in a bid to defuse trade tensions, the government said Friday, as it called on U.S. leaders to cool the "politicization and emotionalization" of a currency dispute. A deputy commerce minister, Zhong Shan , will go to Washington on Wednesday to meet with American trade, commerce and Treasury officials and members of Congress, the Commerce Ministry said. It said they would discuss the Chinese-U.S. trade gap and trade disputes.

We are facing great pressure to survive   -Bai Ming