IMF backs stronger Chinese currency as Asia powers ahead

WASHINGTON: A stronger yuan is “essential” for both the Chinese and world economies, the IMF said on Wednesday as it projected breakneck growth for China and a powerful post-crisis bounce across Asia.

The International Monetary Fund said the Chinese yuan was “substantially” undervalued, heaping more pressure on Beijing to allow the currency to strengthen to help rebalance skewed world trade.

China suspends India power projects

NEW DELHI: Restrictions on the import of skills are forcing Chinese companies to suspend the building of badly needed power plants in India to rid the country of its crippling energy deficit, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

A Delhi-based Chinese official said as many as 10 Chinese companies had had to suspend work on power projects ñ viewed as a top priority by the Congress party-led government ñ because of a shortage of skills and difficulties in importing their own technicians from China. “Without Chinese people the projects can’t go through smoothly,” the official said. “They (India) don’t have enough technicians and skilled workers.”

China overtakes Germany as top world exporter

Saturday, January 09, 2010
FRANKFURT: China and its population of 1.3 billion has overtaken Germany, population 82 million, as the world’s top exporter, trade figures from the German national statistics office showed on Friday.

From January to November, Chinese exports were worth 1.07 trillion dollars, while German data showed that exports from Europe’s biggest economy amounted to 734.6 billion euros, or 1.05 trillion dollars.

China pulls out of $40 billion Australia gas deal

SYDNEY: Chinese energy giant PetroChina Co. Ltd. has pulled out of a $40 billion deal to buy natural gas from a project off Australia, leaving Woodside Petroleum Ltd. looking for new customers.

China to be world’s third windpower producer

Friday, January 01, 2010
BEIJING: China is set to become the world’s third largest wind power producer in 2009, state media reported, as the Asian giant seeks various ways to expand energy supply to power its economic boom.

The country’s installed wind power capacity will reach 20 gigawatts this year, said Shi Lishan, vice director of the National Energy Administration’s New Energy Department, the Xinhua news agency said Wednesday. That will lift China to surpass Spain and become the world’s third biggest wind power producer after the United States and Germany, the report said.

China revises up 2008 economic growth

Saturday, December 26, 2009
BEIJING: China announced on Friday that the country’s economy grew by 9.6 per cent in 2008, up from a previously announced figure of nine per cent.

The latest national economic census found the economy was worth 31.4 trillion yuan in 2008, head of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Ma Jiantang said at a briefing, or around 4.6 billion dollars based on the current exchange rate.

China will target 8pc growth in 2010’

Tuesday, December 22, 2009
‘BEIJING: China will target eight per cent economic growth next year as the government maintain’s pro-growth policies aimed at fighting the global turn-down, a top minister said on Monday.

“Based on the central government’s target for around eight percent economic growth, we’re aiming for around 11 per cent growth in industrial output,” Li Yizhong, Minister of Industry and Information Technology, said in a webcast.

China exceeds 2009 goal of 9m new jobs

Sunday, December 13, 2009
BEIJING: Some 9.4 million jobs were created in China’s cities during the first ten months of the year, exceeding the goal of nine million for the entire year state media said Saturday.

According to government figures, the active population at the end of 2008 numbered just over 792 million, most of whom were in work.

Chinese car market overtakes that of United States

SHANGHAI: China has overtaken the US as the world’s biggest market for automobiles, the first time any other country has bought more vehicles than the nation that produced Henry Ford, the Cadillac and the minivan.
 
Now that the Chinese buy more cars and trucks than Americans, the shift could produce ripples for the environment, gas prices and even the kinds of cars automakers design.