IMF sees Chinese progress currency reform, but some members still believe yuan is undervalued

October 6th, 2009 LONDON/DUBAI - The director of Saudi Arabia's central bank Tuesday denied press reports suggesting that Gulf states had held secret talks to replace the dollar as the prime currency on world oil markets. "There is absolutely no truth to this report," Mohammed al-Jasser, head of the Saudi central bank, told the satellite news network al-Arabiya.

October 6th, 2009 LONDON - Gulf countries have begun secret talks with China, France, Japan and Russia to replace dollar dealings for oil with a basket of currencies, a newspaper reported Tuesday. The basket includes the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), The Independent reported.

September 8th, 2009 Beijing to sell first yuan bonds in Hong KongBEIJING — Beijing will sell some $876 million of government bonds denominated in the mainland's yuan for the first time in Hong Kong this month, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday, in a move to expand the international use of its tightly controlled currency. The 6 billion yuan ($876 million) bond sale is slated for Sept.

September 6th, 2009 BEIJING - China has spent nearly 1 trillion yuan ($146 billion) on ecological conservation and environmental protection over the past decade, a senior official said Sunday. Of the total expenditure, more than 700 billion yuan went to projects to reforest cultivated land, return grazing land to protected grassland, protect natural forests and conserve river sources on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau and for the south-to-north water diversion programme, according to Du Ying, vice minister of the National Development and Reform Commission.

August 28th, 2009 The9 Limited posts 2 quarters of lossesNEW YORK — Chinese online game operator and developer The9 Limited said Thursday it lost money in the last two quarters and revenue fell sharply in the April-to-June period. The company said it lost 79.2 million yuan ($11.6 million), or 3.15 yuan (46 cents) per share, in the quarter ended June 30, compared with net income of 99 million yuan ($14.5 million) a year earlier.

July 27th, 2009 US, China facing economic, diplomatic flash pointsWASHINGTON — Two days of high-level talks between the United States and China are expected to expose sharp differences on trade and soaring U.S. budget deficits, but the discussion could be more amicable in the area of foreign policy.

July 15th, 2009 BEIJING - China's foreign exchange reserves topped $2.13 trillion by the end of June, up 17.84 percent year-on-year, the People's Bank of China said Wednesday. About $185.6 billion were added to the world's largest official foreign exchange reserves in the first half of the year, but that figure is about $95 billion less than the same period a year ago, said the central bank.

June 29th, 2009 China central bank chief says economy on the mendHONG KONG — The head of China's central bank said Monday the country's economy was on the mend and expressed confidence that a government target of 8 percent growth this year would be met. Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, said signs the downturn in the world's third-largest economy was leveling off began to emerge in March.

June 2nd, 2009 Analysis: Geithner's style less confrontationalBEIJING — Rarely has a Cabinet agency seen such a dramatic change of style as the one that has occurred at the Treasury Department. Gone is Hank the hammer and in his place is Tim the mild bureaucrat.

May 4th, 2009 China shares up on higher purchasing manager indexSHANGHAI — Chinese shares rose strongly Monday, buoyed by hopes that stronger purchasing order data mean the economy may be recovering from its slowdown. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 82.34 points, or 3.3 percent, to close at 2,559.91.

April 29th, 2009 China shares up on better company earningsSHANGHAI — Chinese shares rebounded Wednesday after a three-day drop as investors were cheered by improving corporate quarterly earnings. Energy stocks like Sinopec and bank shares like ICBC led the gains.

April 28th, 2009 China Eastern Airlines: 1Q net profit down 81 pctSHANGHAI — China Eastern Airlines said Tuesday that its net profit fell 81 percent in the first quarter from the same period a year earlier as passenger traffic fell amid the economic slowdown. The 40.1 million yuan ($5.9 million) net profit in January-March compared with 210.8 million yuan earnings in the first quarter of 2008.

April 26th, 2009 China set to spend $10B more of stimulus packageBEIJING — The Chinese government is preparing to spend 70 billion yuan ($10.3 billion) in the next portion of its previously announced stimulus plan, a state newspaper reported. The planned investment, which will be mainly used on infrastructure projects, will be announced within a week, the Economic Observer said Saturday, citing an unidentified official from the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planning body.

April 20th, 2009 China shares gain, premier says stimulus workingSHANGHAI — Chinese shares rose to a new eight-month high Monday, after Premier Wen Jiabao said Beijing's stimulus spending was showing results. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 53.52 points, or 2.1 percent, to close at 2557.46.

March 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama flatly rejected China's call for a global currency that would gradually replace the dollar as an international reserve. 'I don't believe that there's a need for a global currency,' Obama said at a White House press conference Tuesday night, adding that the dollar 'is extraordinarily strong right now'.