FINANCIAL TIMES: China will step up efforts to fight inflation next year after prices rose more than 5 per cent in November, according to a statement released after an annual economic policy meeting in Beijing…
The annual economic meeting chaired by Hu Jintao, China’s president, reaffirmed a shift to a “prudent” monetary policy from the previous “appropriately loose” stance. The shift was announced by the Chinese Communist party’s ruling body last week, raising expectations for an imminent increase in interest rates. The central bank raised reserve requirements for commercial banks on Friday – for the sixth time this year and the third in just over a month – to drain liquidity from the financial system…
The government said on Friday that exports increased 34.9 per cent year-on-year in November, while imports surged 37.7 per cent. It said on Saturday that the rate of growth in industrial production increased slightly to 13.3 per cent last month. Fixed asset investment also accelerated from 24.4 per cent in the January to October period, compared to the same period the year before, to 24.9 per cent for January to November… (more)
EDITOR’S NOTE: The U. S. has requested that China redress its surplus of trade by making its currency more valuable. Chinese inflation makes the Renminbi less valuable.
