currency

www.wantchinatimes.com — Pan Shiyi, chairman of Soho China, the largest real-estate developer in Beijing, said on his Sina Weibo microblog on Wednesday that he would like to publish a currency of his own — featuring his likeness — in a move which his detractors have responded to with both anger and ridicule.

mpettis.com — An interesting post where Michael Pettis discusses why he feels the RMB is a long way away from being a contender as one of the world's dominant reserve currencies. If you don't have at least a passing interest in economics or finance, skip this, as it gets a bit heady in parts.

www.ft.com — Everybody from Lou Dobbs to Paul Krugman is beating up on China. China, we are told, is cheating. It is cheating by making it harder for western companies to invest there and for stealing their technology when they do. It is cheating by directing cheap credit to favoured industries. It is cheating by allowing companies that operate in China to pay their workers less and pollute more.

beforeitsnews.com — Usually, after a day of jousting about Chinese currency and trade issues at the European Union (EU), there is a press conference. But not on Wednesday, after the Chinese delegation had it cancelled because independent Chinese media, including The Epoch Times, were going to attend and possibly ask questions, according to people familiar with the matter.

www.nytimes.com — Last week Japan’s minister of finance declared that he and his colleagues wanted a discussion with China about the latter’s purchases of Japanese bonds, to “examine its intention” — diplomat-speak for “Stop it right now.” Senior American policy figures have repeatedly balked at doing anything about Chinese currency manipulation, in part out of fear that the Chinese would stop buying our bonds.