China, Economy | featured news

The inflation is still high, and the 10% annual growth rate of the last decade is going to wither to under 5% by 2014 or so, according to the Economist. The innovation necessary to boom a consumer economy is questionable. The state banks have probably been loaded with questionable loans.

China should guard against risks from "excessive" holdings of U.S. assets as Washington could pursue a policy to weaken the dollar, a senior official at the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said in comments published on Tuesday.

Hunger was such a constant companion in Yao Qizhong's childhood that even now, at age 40, he'll stoop down to salvage a single clove of garlic that falls from his table at the Beijing market where he hawks fresh produce....

China on Tuesday pledged easier access for U.S. companies to key sectors of its economy by removing barriers to its huge market in government contracts and offering a foothold to U.S. mutual funds.

China's inflation will fall slightly in the second half of 2011, but it will be tough to keep the full-year rise in consumer prices below the government's 4 percent ceiling, an official said in remarks reported on Sunday.

China's turbo-charged growth eased just a touch in the first quarter, while its inflation jumped to a 32-month high, putting pressure on the government to do more to rein in prices and keep the economy on an even keel.

China reported its first quarterly trade deficit in six years Sunday as surging prices for commodities pushed up its import bill.

China's central bank increased interest rates on Tuesday for the fourth time since October, raising suspicions that data next week may show inflation rose more than expected in March.

China is on course for another five years of robust growth, but inflation threatens social stability and must be tamed, Premier Wen Jiabao said on Saturday. In China's version of a "State of the Union" address to the annual parliamentary session, Wen said the top priority this year was to curb price rises that are hurting ordinary people in the world's second-largest economy.

The finance ministers from the Group of 20 economic powers reached a compromise, after pressuring China, on how to track imbalances in the global economy.