Category: China

The Yuan Has Peaked, It Won’t Rise Any Further: Chinese Premier Wen

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has said that the yuan is reaching its equilibrium peak, hinting that there would not be further appreciation of the currency, much to the dismay of the United States.

Speaking at the closing of the 2012 National People’s Congress, also the Premier’s last address before he steps down, Wen suggested that the rise of the yuan has ended.

Referring to the yuan’s 30 percent real gains over the last 7 years, Wen said:

Geithner: US Not Worried By China’s Attempts To Internationalise Renminbi

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has expressed doubt on whether China will be able to turn the yuan, or renminbi, into a global currency for international trade.

Speaking at an event at the Dallas Regional Chamber on Thursday, Geithner assured those present that the US dollar’s status, as the international currency of choice, was not at risk of being replaced by the yuan, or at least not in the short-term future, despite all of China’s efforts.

China Boosts Military Spending By 11.2 Percent

China announced this week that its military budget would rise 11.2 percent this year, on top of the 12.7 increase from the previous year. With the new budget, China’s military spending will cross the $100 billion mark for the first time, renewing existing concerns over China’s military agenda.

In recent years, the People’s Liberation Army has had double-digit budget increases, spending that has helped established China’s position as a growing international and regional power.

China’s CIC Receives $30 Billion Boost To Buy European Assets

The Chinese government injected close to $30 billion of new capital into the nation’s second largest sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corp (CIC), at the end of last year, said a senior CIC executive on Sunday, with a part of the money expected to fund new asset purchases in debt-stricken Europe.

World Bank’s Zoellick Warns That China Must Reform

To complete its full transition to a market economy, World Bank chief Robert Zoellick warns that China needs to undergo reforms, especially in its private sector, to achieve its goal of a new economic growth structure.

While Zoellick does not expect a sudden ‘big bang’ reform, he noted that in the history of Chinese economic reform post Deng Xiaopeng, there has been a strong tendency for gradual reform, with tests first carried out on a local scale before they are implemented nationwide.

China Bans Government Officials From Driving Foreign Cars

Chinese government officials and departments will only be allowed to buy locally-branded cars in 2012, reported the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, after the government excluded all foreign brands from a preliminary list of acceptable car models.

Occupy The Toilet! Female Students In China Protest Gender Inequality By Occupying Men’s Bathrooms

A group of female college students in China are taking a unique spin of the Occupy movement spreading across the world, by protesting – both within and outside male’s bathrooms – what they perceive to be gender inequality in the country’s toilet offerings.

Li Maizi (an alias), a student in a Xi’an college, started the movement after she had been frustrated by the long wait taken to use a female bathroom while at a conference in Guangzhou; and began to plan to protest to call for the government to provide more toilet stalls for women.

China Bans Foreign Shows From Prime Time Television Slots

China’s television broadcasting regulator, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) has banned their local TV channels from broadcasting foreign-made shows during the prime time slot of 1930-2200hrs every day, ”, said the China Daily on Tuesday. in order to “improve the quality of imported TV programmes.”