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China’s reform and opening-up policies over the past three decades have not only greatly changed the country, but also contributed much to the development of world civilization, a Singaporean expert said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Zheng Yongnian, Director of East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore, said that China initiated its reform and opening-up policy in 1978 when the country was in a backward and closed or semi-closed state with its economy on the brink of collapse.

The then Chinese leaders resolutely and courageously carried out the reform and opening-up policies, a critical step that has since shaped the course of development of contemporary China.

The past 30 years have witnessed tremendous changes in all social aspects, with the mushrooming of new buildings and the freeing mindsets of the Chinese people, he said, adding that China has stood up and the Chinese people have regained their self-confidence.

The policy of reform and opening-up has injected vigor and vitality into the nation, and has greatly promoted its economic and social development, Zheng said.

Zheng attributed the success to Chinese leaders’ political determination and willingness as well as the country’s political system, which can and has mobilized the whole nation to reach its goal of modernization.

The Chinese leaders, clear about the situation of the country, have the ability to adjust the policies to ensure the continuity of reform and opening-up, he said. The policies, in the fundamental interests of the Chinese people, have freed people’s mindsets and boosted their initiatives.

Zheng said that China has now grown into an open economy after the planned economic system was gradually replaced by a vibrant socialist market economic system that has basically taken shape.

Hailing China’s new mode of development, Zheng said the country has the ability to find a mode of development that is different from those of the developed countries and is benefiting other developing countries.

The 30 years of reform and opening-up have helped China integrate itself with the global economic system, which, in return, has stimulated China to push forward its reform and development, Zheng added.

Believing China’s progress is a good thing for the whole world, he detailed that China had committed to prevent its currency from depreciation in 1997, while this time the Chinese government has pledged to continuously guard the stability of its financial and capital market in a positive and responsible way.

In Zheng’s views, China is playing and will play a bigger role in regional and international affairs.

“Nowadays, we can not see it as a world without China, We can not see a perfect development of regionalism and globalization without China, and nothing can work well without China’s full engagement,” he said.

Zheng said that believes that peace and development remain the main trend of the world today, and the international environment as a whole is favorable to China’s development.

Now it is important for China to double its efforts to address such challenges as environmental pollution in order to maintain harmonious and sustainable growth for its economy, Zheng said.

– As the world strives to survive the financial tsunami, how China uses its large amount of foreign reserves has been a focus of attention.

By September, China had owned 585 billion U.S. dollars in the U.S. government bonds, becoming the largest creditor of the world’s largest economy, according to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Finance. It bought new US national debts every month during this year’s first three quarters.

In September alone, China bought an additional 43.6 billion dollars of U.S. treasury bonds, twice as much as that it held in the previous month.

As the international financial turmoil still evolves, the US government bonds seem to be a low-risk option for the world’s largest developing country to invest its foreign reserves.

Since the outbreak of the US subprime crisis, the world’s turbulent financial market has put China’s more than 1.9-trillion-dollar foreign reserves at a high financial risk.

Some domestic scholars and economists have become increasingly vocal arguing that the country should not hold such a large amount of US government bonds to avoid any possibility that our people may pay for a subprime crisis in the U.S.

There surely are some reasons for such worries. But the question is: can China find a safer investment destination for its foreign reserves in the current international financial market with a lower risk but a higher return? The answer is no.

On the contrary, it turned out that with a large portion of its foreign reserve flowing to low-risk U.S. government bonds, China has successfully minimized the impacts of the ongoing financial crisis upon its own financial structure and the economy as a whole.

It is true that the unstable international financial situations do expose China’s investment in the U.S., either its dollar-holding foreign reserves or American equity products bought by its Chinese financial bodies, to a certain risk of wealth shrinkage.

Some propose the country shift its enormous foreign reserve investment to Europe to evade possible financial risks caused by its excessive concentration in the U.S. market. Then raises another problem: in which areas can the country invest in the European markets and whether the European continent can remain immune to the catastrophic financial sandstorm that first broke out in the world’s most powerful economy?

As a matter of fact, another ideal destination for China to use its foreign reserves is back in Hong Kong’s H-share market. After experiencing the latest round of price decline, a number of stocks in the H-share market have already had no space for a further tumble. Take China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, and China Aluminum. All the shares of these enterprises are now at a reasonable price level after suffering a steep fall in recent months.

That has not only dealt a severe blow to the confidence of overseas investors in the H-share market, but has also deprived these Hong Kong-listed enterprises of a further financing function.

If the central government uses its strong capital reservoir to buy these enterprises’ stocks, the dented investor confidence in them would be substantively elevated, which would help regain their lost financing functions. As leading enterprises in relevant domestic industries, these companies have long served as the backbone and pillar of our national economy.

Not only listed in Hong Kong, these firms are also listed in Shanghai’s A-share bourse and act as the market’s weighted shares. Shifting part of the country’s foreign reserves to H-shares is also expected to restore investor confidence in the whole domestic stock market if it performs well in more mature Hong Kong capital market. That will influence to some degree the trend of stocks in the A-share market.

The flow of the country’s foreign reserve to H shares will also help investors regain confidence in Hong Kong’s stock market.

Over the past year, stock prices in the region have experienced drastic fluctuations, with its Hang Seng index falling to a little more than 10,000 points from last year’s highest 31,000, or down by more than 60 percent. Considering domestic H-shares play an influential role in Hong Kong’s stock market, the flow of the country’s foreign reserves to H-shares will surely help retrieve investor confidence in Hang Seng’s H-shares.

It is also because we have a better knowledge about the market compared with other risky or uncertain foreign stock markets.

It also means injecting new vitality into the future of the country’s economy. Also, given its large scale, the flow of part of the country’s huge foreign reserve to H-shares will not cause excessive speculations under the current well-developed financial monitoring system in Hong Kong.

As the world strives to survive the financial tsunami, how China uses its large amount of foreign reserves has been a focus of attention.

By September, China had owned 585 billion U.S. dollars in the U.S. government bonds, becoming the largest creditor of the world’s largest economy, according to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Finance. It bought new US national debts every month during this year’s first three quarters.

In September alone, China bought an additional 43.6 billion dollars of U.S. treasury bonds, twice as much as that it held in the previous month.

As the international financial turmoil still evolves, the US government bonds seem to be a low-risk option for the world’s largest developing country to invest its foreign reserves.

Since the outbreak of the US subprime crisis, the world’s turbulent financial market has put China’s more than 1.9-trillion-dollar foreign reserves at a high financial risk.

Some domestic scholars and economists have become increasingly vocal arguing that the country should not hold such a large amount of US government bonds to avoid any possibility that our people may pay for a subprime crisis in the U.S.

There surely are some reasons for such worries. But the question is: can China find a safer investment destination for its foreign reserves in the current international financial market with a lower risk but a higher return? The answer is no.

On the contrary, it turned out that with a large portion of its foreign reserve flowing to low-risk U.S. government bonds, China has successfully minimized the impacts of the ongoing financial crisis upon its own financial structure and the economy as a whole.

It is true that the unstable international financial situations do expose China’s investment in the U.S., either its dollar-holding foreign reserves or American equity products bought by its Chinese financial bodies, to a certain risk of wealth shrinkage.

Some propose the country shift its enormous foreign reserve investment to Europe to evade possible financial risks caused by its excessive concentration in the U.S. market. Then raises another problem: in which areas can the country invest in the European markets and whether the European continent can remain immune to the catastrophic financial sandstorm that first broke out in the world’s most powerful economy?

As a matter of fact, another ideal destination for China to use its foreign reserves is back in Hong Kong’s H-share market. After experiencing the latest round of price decline, a number of stocks in the H-share market have already had no space for a further tumble. Take China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, and China Aluminum. All the shares of these enterprises are now at a reasonable price level after suffering a steep fall in recent months.

That has not only dealt a severe blow to the confidence of overseas investors in the H-share market, but has also deprived these Hong Kong-listed enterprises of a further financing function.

If the central government uses its strong capital reservoir to buy these enterprises’ stocks, the dented investor confidence in them would be substantively elevated, which would help regain their lost financing functions. As leading enterprises in relevant domestic industries, these companies have long served as the backbone and pillar of our national economy.

Not only listed in Hong Kong, these firms are also listed in Shanghai’s A-share bourse and act as the market’s weighted shares. Shifting part of the country’s foreign reserves to H-shares is also expected to restore investor confidence in the whole domestic stock market if it performs well in more mature Hong Kong capital market. That will influence to some degree the trend of stocks in the A-share market.

The flow of the country’s foreign reserve to H shares will also help investors regain confidence in Hong Kong’s stock market.

Over the past year, stock prices in the region have experienced drastic fluctuations, with its Hang Seng index falling to a little more than 10,000 points from last year’s highest 31,000, or down by more than 60 percent. Considering domestic H-shares play an influential role in Hong Kong’s stock market, the flow of the country’s foreign reserves to H-shares will surely help retrieve investor confidence in Hang Seng’s H-shares.

It is also because we have a better knowledge about the market compared with other risky or uncertain foreign stock markets.

It also means injecting new vitality into the future of the country’s economy. Also, given its large scale, the flow of part of the country’s huge foreign reserve to H-shares will not cause excessive speculations under the current well-developed financial monitoring system in Hong Kong.

Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang stressed the importance of maintaining stable and healthy economic growth through domestic demand expansion and economic restructuring on Sunday.

Addressing a national conference of economic planners concluded here Sunday, Li said China’s economy was in face of a grim situation due to the global financial crisis, but the fundamentals and long-term trend of the country’s economic development were unchanged.

The economic development was the foundation for solving all problems, Li said, noting that as the central government had pointed out, priority should be given to maintaining stable and relatively fast economic growth next year.

This would be achieved through expanding domestic demand, restructuring the economy and transforming the growth pattern, Li said. All would ultimately target improving people’s living standard.

Special armed police joined normal patrol officers and police dogs sniffed around luggage offices and platforms for prohibited goods.

At first sight, the security at Beijing Railway station, China’s busiest transport center before the Lunar New Year which falls on Jan. 26, was roughly the same as last year.

But for many railway staff, this year’s 40-day Spring Festival passenger rush is a “real test” of their capability to promote harmony as global financial crisis and the weakening domestic economy have aggravated the winter blues.

German business confidence has slightly increased in January, the Ifo institute in Munich said on Tuesday, out of the expectation of experts.

The Ifo institute said German business confidence increased to 83 in January from 82.7 in December, ending the falling trend since June 2008, as the influence of global financial crisis becomes more and more serious, but this data can not be taken as a cyclical turnaround.

The Ifo said the firms in manufacturing and exports continue to expect a very unfavorable business development, while the wholesalers and retailers regard their present situation as well as their outlook less negatively than in December.

Economists expected German business confidence will fall to 81,the median of 37 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey shows.

The unexpected rise may have been caused by the European Central Bank lowering its interest rates and the government doubling its economic stimulus package to fight the recession, according to the local media.

The Ifo began calculating German business confidence from January 1991, based on a survey of 7,000 executives.

The World Bank’s board of governors has approved a proposal to create an additional seat for developing nations on its executive board. This move, if sealed by the bank’s 185 members, will help developing countries to have a majority of seats on the board. It would also help increase the voting power of this bloc to 44 percent.
The measure comes as a response to the criticism that it (and other international organizations such as the IMF) faced last year for its failure to foresee the global financial crisis.

At the G20 Summit in Washington last November, some developing nations had pressed for a revision in the representation mechanism in international financial institutions. This, they said, would enable them to have a better say in the workings of these multilateral bodies.

“Expanding the developing world’s voice is central to delivering effective aid and promoting shared prosperity and development within a 21st century economic reality,” World Bank Group President Robert Zoellick said in a statement.

The bank agreed to add a chair for Sub-Saharan Africa in addition to its existing 24 seats on the executive board. This was part of the bank’s “first phase of reforms to increase the influence of developing countries”. It also pledged to undertake a comprehensive work program to realign bank shareholdings and move toward an equitable voting arrangement between the developed and developing countries.

Although the latest move comes as an important step to help reform the World Bank’s governance structure, experts have warned that bolder reforms are needed going forward.

“It is an irreversible trend for the developing world to push reforms on the international financial institutions, and the change in the World Bank’s representation is but a minor step on the road to making it more representative,” Hua Ercheng, chief economist with the China Construction Bank, said.

The current management mechanism in international financial institutions was out-dated as it largely reflected the political and economic landscape of the early years after World War II, Hua said, pointing out that it was unreasonable to still stick to the old governance model.

The number of Nepali laborers leaving for overseas has seen a rise of 8 percent during the period of mid-January to mid-February 2009 compared to the previous month, local news website Nepal news reported on Monday.

The data has recorded high in contrast with the hundreds of Nepali migrant workers being returning back at home due to the global recession.

However, the growing trend of job-seeking through personal initiative has been attributed to the rise in Nepali people going abroad for employment.

According to the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), a total number of workers leaving for different job destinations between mid-January and mid-February this year stood at 18,715 against 17,300 recorded in the previous month.

The number of Nepalis finding overseas work through individual initiative increased to 28 percent of the total outbound workforce during the month while it was only around 15 percent in past months.

The number of Nepali workers going to United Arab Emirates (UAE) witnessed a very nominal rise between mid-January and mid-February as some 2,550 such workers left for the country during the period.

According to data of the DoFE, 6,413 Nepalis left for Qatar and an additional 5,140 flew to Saudi Arabia during the month.

Data of DoFE shows that, the number of workers leaving for Malaysia, however, declined to 1,553 during the month, compared to 2,873 registered a month earlier.

Argentine authorities appeared to have accelerated the pace at which the peso is devaluating against the U.S. dollar amid the worsening global financial crisis, but there is little risk of the country’s exchange rate spinning out of control in the short run.

DEVALUING PESO

On Friday, the peso exchange rate closed at 3.65 to the U.S. dollar, a 5.19 percent drop from 3.47 at the beginning of this year.

The increased devaluation speed reveals the severity of the international financial turmoil, as panicked investors often trade pesos for the dollar as a safe haven in times of crisis.

Aldo Pignanelli, the former central bank president, said that as long as the global financial crisis persists, the dollar would continue to rise against the currencies of some emerging markets including Argentina.

Argentinians have tended to hold dollars since the country’s financial crisis in 2001. A survey conducted recently by the La Nacion newspaper showed that 77.33 percent of Argentinians plan to withdraw peso deposits and change them into dollars.

In the past few weeks, there has been a marked increase in the number of people who traded pesos for dollars, contributing to thedollar’s rise.

Meanwhile, the declining trade surplus has led to a drop in dollar supply in the foreign exchange market.

Argentina ran a trade surplus of 971 million dollars in January, a 27 percent drop compared with the 1.33 billion dollars in the same month last year, according to government statistics.

STRUGGLING TO CONTROL

To cope with the financial crisis, the Argentine government pursues a policy of a managed float of its currency to avoid a sudden plunge of the peso’s exchange rate.

While the policy has played some role in stabilizing the market and boosting investor confidence, it has put Argentina at a disadvantage in its foreign trade, as the peso has actually appreciated against the currencies of other Latin American countries. Argentina’s exports dropped 36 percent in January compared with the same month last year.

Argentina’s financial and business circles have been vocal on the government’s exchange rate policy, calling for a faster devaluation of the peso which they say is overvalued.

A cheaper peso will also benefit the national economy by promoting the tourism industry.

In a bid to boost exports while maintaining the stability of the financial market, the government is struggling to keep the peso’s devaluation on a right path.

On Tuesday, the Central Bank injected 200 million dollars into the foreign exchange market as an intervention to prop up the peso.

However, there is a host of factors which have a bearing on the trend of the peso-U.S. dollar exchange rate, including the coming parliamentary elections slated for October. If the ruling coalition lost control of the parliament in the polls, it would arouse public concerns over the political situation at home and the peso would be likely to go further down.

A total of 2.1 million child deaths occurred in India in 2006, the UNICEF said in its latest report, State of Asia Pacific’s Children 2008, which examines the latest trends in child and maternal health, the Indian Express reported Wednesday.

The report said India should achieves major improvements in health, nutrition, water and sanitation, education, gender equality and child protection.

While child mortality rates have declined in India, there are massive disparities in the availability of healthcare across different socio-economic strata, it said.

“The divide between rich and poor is rising at a troubling rate, leaving vast numbers of mothers and children at risk of increasing relative poverty and continued exclusion from quality primary healthcare services,” the report said, adding that pneumonia, diarrhoea and malnutrition are major causes of child death in the region.

Also, in India, one out of every three women is underweight, which put them at risk of having low-birth-weight babies, who are 20 times more likely to die in infancy than healthy babies.

With regard to prevalent gender disparities, the report said, “south Asia is the only sub-region in the world where female life expectancy is lower than male and where girls are more likely to be underweight than boys.”

It went on to underline a disturbing trend across the region, noting that public health expenditure remains well below the world average of 5.1 percent, with South Asia spending only 1.1 percent of its GDP.

“What is needed is political will and sound strategies to dramatically increase investment in public health services that specifically target the poorest,” it said.