Voice from London


(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-03-02 13:37
Large Medium Small

Reuters: China says committed to U.S. debt, wary on gold 09/03

China, the world's biggest holder of foreign exchange reserves, renewed its commitment to the U.S. Treasury market on Tuesday but said it would be wary of substantially boosting its gold holdings.

The country's chief currency regulator said China would attract more capital inflows this year, partly reflecting expectations of a stronger yuan, but he left the market none the wiser as to when Beijing might let the currency resume its rise.

"The U.S. Treasury market is the world's largest government bond market. Our foreign exchange reserves are huge, so you can imagine that the U.S. Treasury market is an important one to us," Yi Gang, head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), told a news conference.

Reuters:China cautions against expecting fast yuan rise 08/03

Any rise in the yuan's exchange rate will be gradual, China's trade chief said on Monday in comments that underline the competing interests at the heart of Chinese policy-making.

Commerce Minister Chen Deming said a halt to the yuan's appreciation since mid-2008 was part of a panoply of pro-growth policies to prop up the economy during the global credit crunch.

"Exiting from the stimulus does not mean all these measures will disappear. They will still be there, but there will be some fine-tuning," Chen told Reuters on the sidelines of the country's annual session of parliament.

The Times: Gendun Choekyi Nyima is living in Tibet 08/03

China shed a glimmer of light yesterday on the life of a young Tibetan man who vanished 15 years ago after the Dalai Lama declared him to be the reincarnation of the second-highest monk in Tibetan Buddhism.

Tibet's new governor, Padma Choling, revealed yesterday that the young man, now 20, is still living in Tibet, where "his brothers and sisters are at university or are doing regular work".

Reuters: China says Iran sanctions no cure 07/03

China's Foreign Minister said on Sunday new sanctions on Iran will not solve the standoff over its nuclear program, while chiding the United States after two months of tensions between the big powers.

Washington and other Western powers want China to approve a proposed United Nations resolution imposing new sanctions on Tehran, which they say wants the means to make nuclear weapons and has violated non-proliferation safeguards.

Beijing has previously resisted calls for harsh sanctions against Iran, a big source of oil for China, and Yang emphasized his government's reluctance, while stopping short of outright opposing any new U.N. resolution.