A very interesting article that describes a relationship to global currency with oil trade, the oil crisis' and gold. A bit of a history lesson. Very interesting article, although quite long. Also definitely worth watching the YouTube video at the end that discusses the future of oil/energy/carbon trading. Join discussion...

"Rumors have circulated in China that People’s Bank of China (PBC) Gov. Zhou Xiaochuan may have left the country. The rumors appear to have started following reports on Aug. 28 which cited Ming Pao, a Hong Kong-based news agency, saying that because of an approximately $430 billion loss on U.S. Treasury bonds, the Chinese government may punish some individuals within the PBC, including Zhou." Join discussion...

"China, whose $2.45 trillion in foreign-exchange reserves are the world’s largest, is turning bullish on Europe and Japan at the expense of the U.S. The nation has been buying “quite a lot” of European bonds, said Yu Yongding, a former adviser to the People’s Bank of China" Join discussion...

"China, facing the risk of embarrassment if it misses a looming environmental deadline, has ordered thousands of companies to close high-polluting plants as its leadership vies to retool economic growth. Beijing has pledged to slash China's energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product by 20 per cent between 2006 and 2010" Join discussion...

The Chinese are diversifying away from US dollar into.... ahem... euro and yen. Join discussion...

China's rich-poor gap could be much wider than the official figures. That explains why property bubble in China can be so much more enduring than expected. Join discussion...

A website that provides details of China's current 5 year plan (2006-2010) and its targets. Join discussion...

"China has started formulating its 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) by soliciting the advice of officials and economists. The focus of the previous four five-year plans was on setting economic growth targets, which was usually surpassed by growth in real terms. Relative to the established goal, >>>China's economy has always been overheated, because regardless of whether the central government set a growth target or not local governments have shown more enthusiasm in pursuing fast rather than planned growth<<<. Under such circumstances, it is more important to maintain macroeconomic stability, instead of staring at a planned growth target, for volatility is what an economy fears most." Join discussion...

"The coming five years will be a key period to build a moderately prosperous society and a period to tackle the thorny problem of deepening the reform and opening-up process and accelerating the transformation of the economic development pattern..." Join discussion...

"Baotou Steel Rare Earth High-Tech Co and Jiangxi Copper Corp are set to launch a unified pricing mechanism on light rare earth materials nationwide, a move that is expected to give China a bigger say in international markets over the valuable resource. China supplies more than 95 percent of global rare earth oxides and contains more than half of the world's reserves. Baotou Steel Rare Earth alone supplies 46 percent of the global market." Join discussion...