BEIJING, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's lenders have been urged to be flexible and innovative concerning loan repayment from smaller firms. The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said Friday it is trying to help small firms facing financing difficulties by extending the loan period. According to a notice sent to various lenders, banks and small firms could stipulate such terms in loan contracts which would allow the borrower to file a new request for a credit checkup before the loan is due. If no problem is found, the borrower could directly extend the loan period without starting all over again by signing a new contract. Extra conditions that come along with the extended loan period could be worked out by both sides through negotiations, the commission said. However, the commission did not define which small firms would be entitled to such favorable policies.
BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping met on Wednesday with visiting Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. Xi expressed appreciation for her contribution to Sino-Thai friendship and donation to the country's earthquake-hit areas. During her China trip from April 3-10, Sirindhorn visited southwest China's Sichuan Province, and donated 10 million yuan for the rebuilding of schools damaged by last year's devastating earthquake. Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (R) shakes hands with Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, April 8, 2009 Xi said China is ready to make joint efforts with Thailand to raise bilateral strategic cooperation to a new level. Remarkable progress in bilateral cooperation has benefited the two peoples, and contributed to regional peace and stability, Xi said. Sirindhorn told Xi she has a deep affection for China, and she is impressed with the great changes taking place in China whenever she visits the country. The Thai princess said she would contribute more to enhancing Thailand-China friendship and cooperation.
CARACAS, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping arrived midday on Tuesday in Caracas for an official visit to Venezuela. In a written speech issued at Simon Bolivar International Airport, Xi said that he came to strengthen friendship, amplify consensus, deepen cooperation and to promote development. Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (L Front) is greeted by Venezuelan Vice President Ramon Carrizales (R Front) upon his arrival in Caracas, capital of Venezuela, Feb. 17, 2009. Xi Jinping arrived in Caracas on Feb. 17 for an official visit to Venezuela. He said that with his visit the China-Venezuela strategic partnership for common development is expected to obtain further advance. Venezuelan Vice President Ramon Carrizales, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicolas Maduro, Chinese Ambassador in Caracas Zhang Tuo and representatives of local Chinese community welcomed Xi at the airport. Xi came from official visits in Mexico, Jamaica, Colombia, and will continue his six-nation tour in Venezuela, Brazil and Malta. Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (L2 Front) is greeted by Venezuelan Vice President Ramon Carrizales (R Front) upon his arrival in Caracas, capital of Venezuela, Feb. 17, 2009. Xi Jinping arrived in Caracas on Feb. 17 for an official visit to Venezuela.Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (L Front) receives a bunch of flowers presented by a staff member of the Chinese Embassy to Venezuela greeting him upon his arrival at the airport in Caracas, capital of Venezuela Feb. 17, 2009. Xi Jinping arrived in Caracas on Feb. 17 for an official visit to Venezuela
LONDON, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy here Wednesday night. "Our meeting today means a new starting point for the bilateral relations, and I hope the two sides work together to usher in a new phase in Chinese-French ties," Hu said at the start of his meeting with Sarkozy. Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) shakes hands with French President Nicolas Sarkozy during their meeting in London, Britain, on April 1, 2009.The two leaders were meeting ahead of a Group of 20 summit on the financial crisis, scheduled here for Thursday. China and France said in a press communique issued Wednesday simultaneously by their foreign ministries that the two sides "attach great importance to China-France relations" and reiterated their adherence to the principle of non-interference in each other's internal affairs. In the communique, France pledged not to support "Tibet independence" in any form.
BEIJING, April 1 (Xinhua) -- China's top political advisor Wednesday called for a more transparent and modern information system for donors to promote the integrity of charity organizations. Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, was speaking to delegates at the 20th anniversary conference of the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA). Jia said the foundation should work harder to create a public service platform for donors to easily contribute while being able to track where and how their donations were used. Charity organizations should make better use of modern telecommunications and the Internet to promote transparency, so that people could be proud of their contributions, he said. Jia said charity organizations should further improve their administration and promote public credibility, by fully implementing tax break policies for donors. The CFPA has poured almost 2.4 billion yuan into poverty relief over the past 20 years, benefiting 7.18 million people.
CARTAGENA, Colombia, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping Sunday held talks with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe in the northern Colombian port city of Cartagena. Xi first transferred the sincere regards of Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao to Uribe, and expressed his thanks to Uribe for specially coming here to meet the Chinese delegation. Visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping meets with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe in Cartagena, a port city of Colombia, on Feb. 15, 2009Xi said the two peoples have enjoyed long friendship, which is deep-rooted in their hearts, despite the long distance between the two countries. He mentioned Uribe's visit to the Chinese embassy last May to mourn the victims in the devastating quake in Sichuan province in southwestern China, and the Colombian government's statement to express its condolences to the victims. He also said that after Colombia was struck by severe floods not long ago, the Chinese government provided aid to the South American country. Visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping meets with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe in Cartagena, a port city of Colombia, on Feb. 15, 2009These moves reflected the deep friendship between the two peoples, said Xi, who arrived in Colombia Saturday for a three-day visit. He said bilateral relations have made great headway in recent years under the care of the two countries' leaders. In November, President Hu reached consensus with Uribe on deepening bilateral sincere and friendly political ties, strengthening mutually beneficial, win-win and practical cooperation, increasing civil exchanges, and boosting multilateral coordination and cooperation, Xi said. The consensus is the principle and direction for the development of bilateral ties in the following period of time, he added. Xi said next year will mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations, and bilateral ties will enter a mature period that enjoys full-scale development. He said both sides should seize this opportunity to fully implement the consensus reached by the two countries' leaders and focus on the work in the following four fields: -- to increase mutual trust in political affairs, deepen their sincere friendship, and care each other's concerns; -- to make use of the advantage of mutual complementarity, expand bilateral trade, and promote trade balance; -- to broaden cooperation fields, actively explore new fields and ways for mutually beneficial cooperation, and meet the new demands of common development; -- to encourage investment and cooperation in various forms and promote the level of bilateral practical cooperation, with the Chinese government encouraging and supporting Chinese companies to carry out trade, economic and investment activities in Colombia. For his part, Uribe asked Xi to convey the Colombian people's greetings to President Hu and the Chinese people. Colombia attaches great importance to its relations with China and has always cherished friendly feelings for China, he said, adding that the Colombian government and people have very much looked forward to Xi's visit and are satisfied with the growth of bilateral relations in recent years. Uribe recalled last year's signing of the bilateral investment protection agreement which he and President Hu had witnessed, saying it is a notable sign of the development of cooperation between Colombia and China. Uribe expressed gratitude to the Chinese government for its assistance to Colombia and voiced appreciation for China's accession into the Inter-American Development Bank, which he believes will help strengthen Colombia-China relations. Chinese enterprises are warmly welcomed to invest in and trade with Colombia, which has rich natural resources and a steadily-growing economy, he said. Noting that Colombia is impressed by the efforts China made to cope with the global financial crisis and stimulate economic growth, Uribe expressed his belief that China is an engine of the world economy and its development and growth pace are key to a quick recovery of the world economy from the financial crisis. Colombia stands ready to broaden its cooperation with China and push their relationship to new heights, he said. Colombia is the third leg of Xi's six-nation tour. He has already visited Mexico and Jamaica and will also visit Venezuela, Brazil and Malta.
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BEIJING, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Senior members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) met Wednesday to discuss the agenda of the annual conference in March. Jia Qinglin, chairman of the CPPCC National Committee and member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Political Bureau, presided over the meeting of the Standing Committee of the 11th CPPCC National Committee. The fourth meeting of the Standing Committee of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is held in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 25, 2009During the three-day meeting, the senior political advisors will set an agenda for the Second Session of the 11th CPPCC National Committee, discuss and approve a work report of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC National Committee, and study a report on the handling of proposals put forward by CPPCC members at last year's annual meeting. The CPPCC reflects China's "multi-party cooperation system" under the leadership of the CPC. The CPPCC committees at different levels have representatives from different political groups, ethnic groups, and people of all walks of life.
BEIJING, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Senior members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) met Wednesday to discuss the agenda of the annual conference in March. Jia Qinglin, chairman of the CPPCC National Committee and member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Political Bureau, presided over the meeting of the Standing Committee of the 11th CPPCC National Committee. The fourth meeting of the Standing Committee of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is held in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 25, 2009During the three-day meeting, the senior political advisors will set an agenda for the Second Session of the 11th CPPCC National Committee, discuss and approve a work report of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC National Committee, and study a report on the handling of proposals put forward by CPPCC members at last year's annual meeting. The CPPCC reflects China's "multi-party cooperation system" under the leadership of the CPC. The CPPCC committees at different levels have representatives from different political groups, ethnic groups, and people of all walks of life.
BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Yi Gang, vice governor of China's central bank, said Tuesday that China still has room to cut interest rates, but such room is "quite limited". "China still has room to cut interest rates, but not a lot," Yi told Xinhua. "The room for cuts is quite limited, because a zero interest rate is not the best choice for China at the moment," he said. The People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, has cut interest rates five times and reduced required reserve ratio for commercial banks four times since last September. The one-year benchmark deposit rate now stands at 2.25 percent. Yi pointed out interest rates of China and the United States are actually almost the same. The 12-month deposit rate in the U.S. stands at around 2 percent, although its key interest rate, or an inter-bank rate, is zero to 0.25, he explained. The equivalent inter-bank rate in China is at around 0.8 percent, he added. China's current rate still has room for manoeuvre, Yi said, but if the interest rate falls to zero, there will be no more room for using interest rates to deal with any further world economic downturn. Su Ning, also vice governor of the central bank, told Xinhua on Monday that China still has plenty of space to manoeuvre in its monetary policy. Su said the room for further adjustment is "smaller but still exists." "There's a quite a lot of room for cutting the bank's reserve requirement ratio," he added.
BEIJING, Feb. 13 -- Chinese banks issued 1.62 trillion yuan (7 billion) in new loans in January, up 101 percent year-on-year, prompting some economists to say the government might not cut interest rates for the time being to boost the economy. The massive jump in lending is equal to about one-third of the loans issued in the whole of 2008, a year that began on a generally tight credit line, the central bank said yesterday. M2, which includes cash and all types of deposits and indicates overall liquidity in the financial system, grew in January, too, by 18.8 percent year-on-year. It increased 17.8 percent in December. The massive growth in lending comes at a time when banks are rushing to cherry-pick the juiciest stimulus-package projects, especially major infrastructure ones that need long-term investment, the economists said. Chinese banks issued 1.62 trillion yuan (7 billion) in new loans in January, up 101 percent year-on-year The government announced a 6-billion package on November 9 to boost domestic demand and shore up investment. Though the central government will shoulder one-third of the cost, banks will play an important role in financing the construction of bridges, railways and highways. "The banks are fighting for the best projects in the government's stimulus package," said Ha Jiming, chief economist of China International Capital Corp. "It's not surprising to see that an array of the deals were sealed in the past month." "The massive lending growth minimizes the need to further cut interest rates heftily," said Lian Ping, chief economist with Bank of Communications. "The liquidity problem should ease with such a growth." The central bank has cut the benchmark lending rate by 2.16 percentage points in the past four months and reduced the deposit reserve requirement ratio in order to ensure there's enough liquidity in the market to boost the economy. The growth in lending could also prove to be a blessing for cash-strapped domestic enterprises trying to stay afloat amid shrinking overseas demand and waning consumer confidence. Central bank figures show bill financing, which supplies working capital, accounted for 39 percent of the new loans. Medium and long-term corporate loans made up 32 percent. "It (growth) reduces the default risks of domestic firms, which in turn eases worries over bank asset quality at least in the short term," said Sun Mingchun, an economist with Nomura International. The economists said the dramatic rise in lending could be partly attributed to pent-up demand for loans last year. The central bank had imposed a curb on lending till November last year to combat inflation and prevent the economy from overheating. That left "many firms, especially small- and medium-sized ones, facing a severe cash flow problem", Sun said. Policymakers lifted the curb in November and raised the target for M2 growth to 17 percent for 2009, up from 16 percent that had been in practice since 2006. The move is expected to ensure there's enough liquidity in the market to spur investment and boost the economy, whose growth dropped to a seven-year low of 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter last year. "Credit expansion in the first quarter of this year is expected to be very high because banks can maximize investment returns by front-loading new loans," said Jing Ulrich, managing director and chairwoman of China Equities at JP Morgan. But Ulrich cautioned against a possible rise in credit risk because the increase in liquidity could cause a sharp rise in banks' non-performing loans.