CRISIS FOCUS Confidence in China

China provided a source of optimism among the global leaders and economists who attended the annual World Economic Forum in Davos last month,despite the gloomy outlook for the global economy.China's economy would pick up in the second half of 2009 and witness a robust rebound in 2010,said Stephen Roach,Chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia,in an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency on January 29.Edited excerpts of his comments during this interview and on other occasions during the Davos forum follow.     

CRISIS FOCUS: Risks to Recovery

A sustained recovery of the global economy at a slow but steady pace should be expected in the first quarter of 2010, according to the quarterly report on global economic and financial outlook compiled by the International Finance Research Institute of the Bank of China. But three risks stand out, the report said, that threaten recovery efforts: the sovereign credit crisis, growing inflation pressures and increasing numbers of small and medium-sized U.S. banks filing for bankruptcy.     

CRISIS FOCUS:Back to Reality

The devastating global financial crisis stemmed from the corruption of the U.S. property market and a wide range of financial derivatives that were devised based on home mortgages. The world's financial institutions have been hit hard, with some going bankrupt. To avoid such financial catastrophe in the future, Fan Gang, Director of the National Economic Institute, called on business people nationwide to focus more on real industries instead of blindly pouring money into financial and service sectors. He...     

CRISIS FOCUS Housing Conundrum

On July 8, 2010, the troubled U.S. residential mortgage funds providers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said goodbye to the New York Stock Exchange. Despite gloomy future     

CRISIS FOCUS Blowing Bubbles

The Chinese stock and property markets have been outperforming expectations, fueled by an unprecedented surge in bank lending. Xie Guozhong, an economist and board member of Rosetta Stone Advisors, argues the robust Chinese economic figures are only propped up by bubbles, whose bursting will lead to a hard landing for the economy. Xie published his opinion in a related article in Caijing Magazine. Edited excerpts follow:     

CRISIS FOCUS Europe's Commitment

The ongoing sovereign debt crisis is extracting a painful toll on the European economy. Fiscal sustainability and bleake mployment are among the many challenges facing the euro zone.     

CRISIS FOCUS Forex Reserves to The Rescue

When Premier Wen Jiabao told this year's World Economic Forum in Davos that the Chinese Government was explor- ing more efficient ways to use its massive foreign exchange (forex) reserves to boost the domestic economy, he empha- sized that the reserves could only be used overseas. Zuo Xiaolei, Chief Economist of Beijing-based China Galaxy Securities Co. Ltd., recently wrote an article in the Securities Times explaining why the country's forex reserves can only be used overseas and how they can help stimulat...     

CRISIS FOCUS Ensuring Economic Health

Though China’s economy is breathing a sigh of relief after several nervous months,it is still not time to sit back and relax.Much needs to be done to ensure the sustainability of growth momentum.Guo Tianyong,Director of the Research Center of the China Banking Industry of the Central University of Finance and Economics,discussed this issue in an article recently published in the Shanghai Securities Journal.Edited excerpts follow:     

Feeling the Pulse

Nearly one year after the sweeping Wall Street collapse jolted the world, the picture of the global economy remains muddy and slippery. How are the global bailouts having an effect? What efforts are still needed to heal the financial woes? Paul A. Volcker, Former Chairman of the Board of Governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve, gave his answers to these questions at a recent Institute of International Finance (IIF) press conference in Beijing. Edited excerpts of his comments follow.     

CRISIS FOCUS The Dollar Shockwave

As the ongoing recession exhausts the traditional instruments of monetary policy, the U.S. Federal Reserve is firing up its money printing machines as it prepares for new rounds of     

CRISIS FOCUS Rebalancing the World

As China fights its way out of the financial downturn, the developed world, primarily the United States and Europe, is still reeling from the recession. Despite the divergence in levels of recovery, there are common lessons that need to be learned. The key point to any     

CRISIS FOCUS Inadequate Macro Supervision

Policymakers worldwide are seriously reconsidering macroprudential regulation in response to the financial crisis,but the efforts they have introduced are primarily micro oriented.     

CRISIS FOCUS The First Attempt

The U.S. dollar's status as a reserve currency sowed the seeds for the present worldwide financial crisis.Zhou Xiaochuan,Governor of the People's Bank of China,issued a challenge to America's dominance of the global economy last month when he pro-posed that a super-sovereign international currency replace the dollar.Xu Xiaonian,Professor of Economics and Finance at the China Europe International Business School,discussed this proposal in a recent article in Caijing magazine.Edited excerpts follow:     

CRISIS FOCUS: Three Cs to Economic Success

A new world economic order is currently in the making as the immediate backlash from the financial crisis subsides.While the West struggles with recessions,the East is gaining a     

CRISIS FOCUS:The Real Blame

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson fingered a new scapegoat for the world's economic problems. He said massive savings accumulations in countries such as China helped to trigger the crisis by squeezing interest rates and pushing investors toward riskier assets, the Financial Times reported on January 2. Zhang Jianhua, Director of the Research Bureau at the People's Bank of China, rebutted Paulson's comments as "extremely ridiculous and irresponsible" in an interview with Xinhua News Agency. Edited...     

CRISIS FOCUS Growth Is Not Everything

China is feeling relieved as the economy shows signs of rapid recovery. But with the downturn receding, another problem appears—the return of boom times may mask the urgent need to shift the economy away from exports and investments and rely more on domestic consumption. Li Yining, a renowned economist with Peking University, discussed this issue in an interview with People's Daily Overseas Edition. Edited excerpts follow:     

CRISIS FOCUS: Stuck With Liquidity

<正>With the risk of large-scale and systematic financial market crashes all but diminished, 2011 marks the beginning of the post-crisis era for the global economy and financial markets. But an old friend of 2010-