Voice from Tokyo

Kyodo News: Wen warns of 'double-dip' recession, rejects claims yuan undervalued 14/03

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Sunday rejected claims that the Chinese currency is undervalued and said "finger-pointing" is not in the interest of any country, while warning of a possible double-dip recession for its economy.

Warning that trade protectionism will interfere with the global economy, Wen said countries that restricted trade with China will cause difficulties for their domestic businesses as a large proportion of the country's exports are made by foreign-funded businesses or tie-ups.

Addressing concerns over global trade imbalances, Wen said China will continue to implement measures to increase imports and "make every effort" to promote a basic equilibrium in its international balance of payments.

On China's economy, Wen warned of the possibility of a "double-dip" recession despite a buoyant recovery from last year's global financial crisis.

While largely focusing on economic issues, Wen also commented on the state of the country's foreign relations, in particular with the United States. He said China is still "very concerned" about fluctuations in the value of the U.S. dollar and called on Washington to take "concrete steps" to reassure investors.

Japan Today: China is doing very nicely for the moment, thank you 13/03

The tailored gents marching in perfect step toward the podium have reason enough to smile. Led by Premier Wen Jiabo and Supremo Hu Jintao, China’s gang of nine are entitled to feel pretty satisfied with their nation’s recent economic performance.

Wen’s remarks to the annual National People’s Congress were chosen with care to balance the good news with a warning against national complacency. His talk of destabilizing problems on the horizon, though, could not disguise the self-congratulatory stuff. China is doing very nicely, thank you.

China’s extraordinary statistics tell a decidedly different story from the doom and gloom in Japan and the West. While the G-8 nations fear a double dip recession and voice concerns over happens next once all the massive state funding is removed, China sails regally on.

China’s critics may well be correct to caution over the massaging of some of the numbers, but the general picture is surely hard to refute. An 8.7% GDP growth and a juicy $364 billion current account surplus isn’t too bad when compared with the United States’ meager 0.1% GDP record and and its $465 billion deficit. Japan, incidentally, comes in somewhere between the U.S. and the PRC with a respectable current account balance but remains in negative territory over the latest GDP results.

Wen may talk of a property explosion and banking hiccups but he does not have to fear the problems facing the southern portions of Euroland or worry about how the central bank is going to raise funding to service existing debt.