In 2008, the USA pushed oil prices to record highs, which helped tip the world into recession. Mr Birol said China’s increased need for imports of coal and gas could eventually have a similar impact.

China is also the world’s largest coal user. It is set to beat Japan, as the world’s largest coal importer. The trend has also been apparent in oil. Saudi Arabia, the world’s most important oil exporter, for the first time last year sold more oil to China than the U.S., which for decades had been its most important customer.

China on Tuesday denied a report that it had surpassed the United States last year to become the world’s largest energy user.

China now world’s biggest energy user [CNN, 20 July 2010]
China denies IEA label as world’s top energy user [Reuters, 20 July 2010]

Following the accident, the Chinese authorities rushed dozens of oil-skimming vessels to the site to remove the slick off the port. Around 1,000 fishing vessels were also mobilized to aid with the cleaning operation. As of Monday, the spill which initially covered 50 square kilometers has been reduced to 45 square kilometers.

China rushes to clean up oil spill after pipeline blast [Channel NewsAsia, 19 July 2010]

In the application letter, Guxiang agrees to “abide by Chinese law,” and “ensure the company provides no law-breaking content as stipulated in the 57th statement in China’s regulations concerning telecommunications,” which states that any organization or individual is prohibited from using the Internet to spread any content that attempts to subvert state power, undermine national security, infringe on national reputation and interests, or that incites ethnic hatred and secession, transmits pornography or violence.

The renewed license suggests a compromise that would lead to a win-win situation. Google will not risk losing the Chinese market which has the largest number of internet users. At the same time, China avoids damage in investment and technology sectors from the complete Google withdrawal.

China confirms Google’s operation license renewed [Xinhuanet, July 11 2010]

Google’s China compromise stuns observers [Financial Times, 9 July 2010]

The G20 saw the emerging Asian countries, China and India, come forward with a strong voice.  For China, the biggest obstacle to global economic recovery is Western countries shielding their producers from competition from emerging economies. “We must take concrete actions to reject all forms of protectionism and unequivocally advocate and support free trade,” President Hu Jintao said.

Agreeing with the President’s statement, the Indian PM Manmohan Singh said “growth in developing countries would be greatly helped if threats of new protectionist measures in industrialized countries are firmly resisted and existing barriers to trade, especially those affecting developing countries, are reduced.” He also added that India was well placed in handling the situation with an average growth of 7 per cent in the past two fiscals, and could halve its deficits by 2013-14.

The G20 summit held in Toronto, Canada and was the fourth meeting of the G-20 heads of government. The summit, which primarily discussed the global financial system and world economy, took place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre during June 26-27, 2010.

Besides the 20 Core G-20 members, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper,extended invitations to Ethiopia, Malawi,Nigeria, Vietnam,International Labour Organizations and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and development – being their first G-20 summit appearance.

The summit was a target of protests, which occurred in Downtown Toronto. The protests began one week ahead of the summit, and included protests against issues such as poverty, gay rights, capitalism and indigenous rights. As the summit approached, the protests turned ugly, with individuals damaging windows of particular businesses, mostly fast food chains, retail stores, banks etc. Over 900 people were arrested over the week.

Five of the six private talks President Obama held on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) Toronto Summit were with leaders from Asian nations, underscoring the significance of U.S. engagement in the region.

U.S. Had the Last Word, But China Was the Winner at G20 [IPS, 2 July 2010]
PM asks rich nations to resist protectionism [Times of India, 27 June 2010]

Under the ECFA, China agrees to cut tariffs on 539 items from Taiwan, valued at $13.8 billion, or about 16 percent of the island’s 2009 exports to the mainland. Likewise, Taiwan will cut tariffs on 267 items from China, which worth $2.86 billion, or about 10.5 percent of the country’s 2009 export to Taiwan. Moreover, the agreement will allow Taiwan investors access to mainland’s 11 service sectors, including banking, accounting, insurance and hospitals.

China Trade Pact Draws Taiwan Into Economic Embrace [Bloomberg Businessweek, 28 June 2010]
China, Taiwan pact today [Today, 29 June 2010]

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd warmly welcomed China’s Vice-President Xi Jinping to Canberra as he spoke of the booming economic ties with Australia’s biggest trading partner. Mr Xi, who is tipped to succeed President Hu Jintao within two years, is the first high-level Chinese official to visit Australia since the jailing of Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu in Shanghai in March.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Xi’s visit was a signal that the Australia-China relationship had matured to the point where problems could be worked through. He also mentioned that “some of the difficulties and tensions that we had last year really are now behind us and we’re both taking a long term view of the relationship”.

Australia and China had agreed in April 2005 to begin negotiations for a free trade pact and have had 14 rounds of talks since. The next round is scheduled to be held in Beijing by the end of this month.

Sources:
Australia, China sign major deals, push free trade [AFP, 21 June 2010]
Australia, China sign $12b worth of deals [TODAY Online, 22 June 2010]

China has come under increasing international pressure to change its currency policy, especially from the US, insisting that China is artificially keeping the value of the yuan low to help its exporters at the expense of foreign competitors.

China has effectively pegged the yuan to the US dollar for the last two years. In 2005, it briefly allowed a controlled appreciation of the currency, but ended that policy when the global economic crisis threatened demand for its goods abroad.

Sources:
China Yuan Stability Pledged [BBC News, 20 June 2010]
Rise in Currency to be Slow, China Insists [The New York Times, 21 June 2010]

Mr Wen emphasises that the more important matter at hand is to dispel the impact of the Cheonan incident and place a large effort into boosting peace and stability in Northeast Asia.

South Korea has accused North Korea of torpedoing the Cheonan, which sank on 26 March with the loss of 46 lives. The North denies involvement and has responded to the reprisals with threats of war, insistent that Seoul faked evidence to incite tensions and boost its support before local elections this week.

Sources:
China Fails to Censure North Korea at Warship Summit [BBC News, 30 May 2010]
China Balks at Criticism of North Korea [The New York Times, 30 May 2010]
S.Korea, Japan fail to persuade China to censure N.Korea [AFP, 30 May 2010]

Topping the agenda of the talks will be Korean tensions after a multinational panel on Thursday blamed a North Korean submarine for torpedoing the South Korean navy corvette Cheonan in March, killing 46 sailors. Tensions increased with South Korea planning to seek action from the UN Security Council and North Korea threatening an ‘all out war’ if these actions were taken. The US is expecting China to back the responses against North Korea, as North Korea is heavily dependant on China, its closest ally.

Speaking in Shanghai, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stressed the importance of economic concerns for relations with China. The United States annual trade gap with China fell to US$226.8 billion last year, from US$268.0 billion in 2008. The Obama administration is anxious to lift exports and employment. This imbalance has fuelled accusations from the US Congress that China is manipulating its currency by keeping the price of the Yuan low against the dollar.

But, the US and Chinese officials have emphasized that the meeting in Beijing will not be dominated by talks on the Yuan.

China, US to launch talks with trade, North Korea in focus [Channel News Asia, May 24 2010]
Concerns over trade, Europe debt [ The Business Times. May 24 2010]

This event happened three days after Taipei opened its new office in Beijing, being the first swap of its kind since the split of the two countries in 1949. Since 2008 and ever since Ma Ying-jeou came into power, there has been over 1 million tourists to Taiwan.

“This is a key development and milestone in exchanges across the Taiwan Strait,” Shao Qiwei, the head of the China National Tourism Administration, said at the opening ceremony.

China opens first office in Taiwan [AFP, 8 May 2010]
Taiwan opens first office in China to promote tourism [BBC,  4 May 2010]