Sunday, November 13, 2011

DTN News - EUROPE'S FINANCIAL PAIN BE CHINA'S GAIN: IMF Seeks Clarity In Italy, China Wants Stability

Defense News: DTN News - EUROPE'S FINANCIAL PAIN BE CHINA'S GAIN: IMF Seeks Clarity In Italy, China Wants Stability
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada / BEIJING, China - November 10, 2011: The head of the International Monetary Fund urged Italy Thursday to act quickly fill its damaging political vacuum, and China said it was willing to help maintain global financial stability that was being threatened by the euro zone crisis.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde spoke during a visit to China as Rome politicians scrambled to find a replacement for Berlusconi, who has said he will step down when parliament approves reforms aimed at placating markets.

"No one exactly understands who is going to come out as the leader. That confusion is particularly conducive to volatility," Lagarde told a news conference in Beijing.

"So from my perspective, political clarity is conducive to more stability and my objective from the Fund's point of view is better and more stability."

On European markets Thursday, hopes that new government being formed in Italy and Greece could help stave off a euro zone break-up drove the euro higher and top-rated government debt lower, while stocks held above a three-week trough.

China -- which holds an estimated 25 percent of its $3.2 trillion of foreign exchange wealth in euro-denominated assets -- is equally keen to see clarity and stability take hold in the euro zone, the country's single biggest export market.

Premier Wen Jiabao told Lagarde that Europe's sovereign debt crisis was a serious challenge to the world's economic recovery, and had increased financial risks for developed economies, Chinese state media reported.

"China supports the measures taken by the European Union, European Central Bank and IMF to deal with the crisis, and is willing to work with all parties to discuss effective cooperative measures to maintain global financial stability," Xinhua news agency paraphrased Wen as saying.

China remains focused on maintaining its own relatively fast, stable growth, Wen added.

Italian 10-year bond yields eased Thursday from the previous day's record highs, but they continued to trade around 7 percent, a level many economists consider unsustainable for financing sovereign debt of more than 2 trillion euros.

Lagarde, a former French finance minister, declined to comment on a Reuters report that German and French officials have discussed plans for a radical overhaul of the European Union to create a more integrated and potentially smaller euro zone.

YUAN APPRECIATION

She also said she believed Chinese authorities were prepared to let the yuan appreciate further, as demanded by many U.S. and other western politicians who accuse Beijing of holding its currency artificially low to give an unfair advantage to its exporters.

"My understanding is that the authorities are prepared to let that appreciation continue in the months and years to come," she said.

"Certainly from our perspective, with the goal of stability and the solid, balanced and sustainable growth that we pursue, clearly that's welcomed and encouraged."

Lagarde, who also met vice Premier Wang Qishan, said she had in-depth discussions with China's central bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan, a leading advocate of internationalizing the Chinese currency.

But she said it was too early to include it in the IMF's Special Drawing Rights unit, a basket of four currencies -- U.S. dollars, euros, Japanese yen and sterling -- in which the bulk of global trade is designated.

"But there is a clear understanding that it will come in due course and that it will be a factor of the internationalization of the currency. In my view, there is a stronger signal that China is a key player but also an important partner in the composition of this ... easily convertible currency of the IMF," Lagarde said.

(Additional reporting by Sui-Lee Wee, Tracy Zheng and Ben Blanchard; Editing by John Stonestreet)

Related China News


CHINA OCTOBER IMPORTS SURGE AS EXPORTS WILT

BEIJING - China's imports surged in October as exports grew at their slowest rate in months, suggesting efforts to tilt the economy toward domestic demand may be offsetting the external weakness that has dragged on economic growth this year. | Video

7:25am EST

CHINA "BLACK JAILS" PROMPT FEARS OF WIDER SECURITY CRACKDOWN

HONG KONG - China's campaign to stifle dissenters like artist Ai Weiwei through secret detentions could come cloaked in a thicker veneer of legality if proposed crime law changes go through, a prominent rights advocacy group said on Thursday.

Lifestyle, 4:36am EST

ANALYSIS: CHINA LOOKS ACROSS ASIA AND SEES NEW THREATS

BEIJING - Heads of government attending Asian summits hoping to fathom China's foreign policy mood swings might spare a thought for Beijing's own leaders, who fear their expanding influence is attracting a new circle of potential foes not fans.

CHINA SAYS SANCTIONS NO "FUNDAMENTAL" ANSWER ON IRAN

BEIJING - China's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that sanctions cannot "fundamentally" resolve the Iran nuclear dispute, after Western leaders urged expanded sanctions against Iran over a U.N. watchdog report that Tehran has worked to design atom bombs.

World, United Nations 3:30am EST

CHINA'S SINOCHEM PLANNING UP TO $5.5 BILLION SHANGHAI IPO

SHANGHAI - China's Sinochem Corp plans to raise up to 35 billion yuan ($5.5 billion) via an initial public offering in Shanghai, in what would easily be the biggest IPO in the mainland market in the past year.

INSTANT VIEW: CHINA OCTOBER EXPORT GROWTH SLOWS FURTHER

BEIJING - China's trade surplus was $17 billion in October, smaller than expected, as exports grew 15.9 percent from a year earlier while imports jumped 28.7 percent.

09 Nov 2011

GOLDMAN SELLING UP TO $1.54 BILLION IN CHINA ICBC STAKE

HONG KONG - Goldman Sachs Group Inc is selling up to $1.54 billion worth of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. stock, the Wall Street firm's third sell-down of the world's largest bank by value.

"UGLY BABIES": ART OF JAILED NOBEL-WINNER LIU'S WIFE

PARIS - Chinese artist Liu Xia never expected her disturbing photographs to be shown beyond the walls of her Beijing apartment. In China, she is a forbidden artist, living in the shadow of her jailed husband, 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo.

Arts, Lifestyle, 09 Nov 2011

CHINA OCT COMMODITY OUTPUT SLOWS; SOME MAY SEE WINTER LIFT

SHANGHAI - China's oil refineries ran at lower rates in October, and output from steel mills and power plants also dropped, as a credit freeze bit into demand for industrial commodities in the world's second-largest economy. | Video












































































*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News

©

COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS


No comments:

Post a Comment