Category: China

China Extends Additional $12 Billion In Aid To Africa

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Monday pledged an extra $12 billion in assistance funds to the African continent, taking the total loans to over $30 billion, reported Reuters.

Li, speaking during a visit to the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, said that he hoped some of the loans would go to support small and medium-seized companies in Africa, adding that economic development on the continent offered huge opportunities for both China and Africa.

China To Overtake US As World’s Largest Economy This Year: World Bank

The Chinese economy is on track to replace the U.S. as the world’s largest economy – measured by purchasing power parity (PPP) – by the end of this year, according to a World Bank report on Wednesday.

The latest estimate, compiled by the International Comparison Program hosted by the World Bank, found that China’s economy (based on PPP) was 87 percent the size of the United States’ in 2011, 15 percent larger than previously thought – and nearly the double the size of the last calculations from 2005.

Bill Gates Urge China’s Richest To Donate To Poor In State Editorial

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has written an appeal to fellow billionaires from China, urging them to do more for the poor, as wealth continues to grow in the world’s second largest economy.

In an editorial published by the state-owned People’s Daily, often seen as a government mouthpiece, Gates called on Chinese businessmen to “put their talents to work to improve the lives of poor people in China and around the world, and seek solutions for them.”

Chinese Court Orders Seizure Of Japanese Ship Over WWII Compensation

A Chinese court over the weekend ordered the seizure of a Japanese ore carrier that had been docked in Zhejiang Province, claiming that the ship’s parent company had failed to pay compensations for claims incurred during World War II.

Bitcoin ATM Debuts In China In Spite Of Government Crackdown

BTC China, one of the country’s leading bitcoin exchanges, has installed China’s first bitcoin ATM in Shanghai, defying recent government efforts to prohibit widespread usage of the digital currency, reported Reuters on Wednesday.

The machine, located in a cafe at a mall in Shanghai’s Zhangjiang technology park area, allows people to buy bitcoin directly from the exchange for yuan inserted into the machine.

US Warns China On Yuan Intervention, Declines To Name It A “Currency Manipulator”

The U.S. Treasury on Tuesday criticised China for resuming intervention-esque efforts to control the value of the yuan, but stopped short once again of labeling the country as a “currency manipulator” despite the yuan falling to its lowest level against the dollar in more than a year.

Chinese Banks To Shut Down Accounts Of Bitcoin Exchanges

Prices for bitcoins fell sharply on Thursday after China’s Central Bank ordered domestic financial institutions to close down the accounts of all local bitcoin exchanges by April 15.

On Wednesday afternoon, the price for bitcoins was roughly around $450, before falling to $400 early Thursday morning. At present, the price of one bitcoin has fallen to $374.24, according to WorldCoinIndex.

Nearly all Chinese bitcoin exchanges have received official deposit shutdown notices from their banks.

China Seizes $14.5 Billion In Assets From Ex-Security Chief And Associates

In what has been described as the largest corruption scandal in the country in more than six decades, Chinese authorities have seized at least 90 billion yuan ($14.5 billion) in assets from family members and associates of former domestic security chief Zhou Yongkang – once also a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, China’s top decision-making body.

Spanish Court Issues Arrest Warrant For Ex-Chinese President

Spain’s National Court has issued an international arrest warrant for China’s former president Jiang Zemin, after it ruled that the Chinese leader may have been responsible for “genocide, crimes against humanity, torture and terrorism” against Tibetans during the 1980s and 1990s.