Paulson Rejects Criticism, Says Talks With China Have Led to Stronger Yuan

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry
Paulson, rejecting claims in Congress that he's too soft on
China, said negotiations rather than sanctions have led to a
faster appreciation of the yuan.

``We are getting results through this process that wouldn't
have been achieved without it,'' Paulson told reporters as he
traveled to China, where he arrived late yesterday. The Chinese
currency's ``rate of appreciation has gone up materially over
the past year,'' he said.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Poly Plans $2.56 Billion Share Sale to Finance Construction of China Homes

(Bloomberg) -- Poly Real Estate Group Co., China's
third-largest developer by market value, plans to raise as much
as 19.4 billion yuan ($2.56 billion) by selling new shares to
fund the construction of homes in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai.

The offering comprises as many as 350 million yuan-
denominated shares for trading in Shanghai at 55.48 yuan each,
the company, based in Guangzhou, south China, said in a statement
to the city's stock exchange today. That's an 11 percent discount
to the stock's closing price of 62.37 yuan yesterday.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

China Coal May Raise $2.9 Billion in Shanghai Initial Offer to Fund Growth

(Bloomberg) -- China Coal Energy Co., the nation's
second-largest coal producer by sales, may raise about $2.9
billion in a share offering in Shanghai to fund expansion as the
country's demand for energy surges.

China Coal will sell as many as 1.53 billion yuan-
denominated Class A shares in Shanghai, the Beijing-based company
said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange today. The
sale would be worth 22.2 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) based on the
closing price of HK$14.58 in Hong Kong on July 13.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Yuan's Two-Day Gain Beats Rise for Whole of June on Record Trade Surplus

(Bloomberg) -- The yuan extended gains to 0.44
percent over the past two days, signs the central bank is
allowing faster appreciation to cut a record trade surplus.

The advance equaled the currency's rise for the whole of
June after a government report yesterday showed the trade gap
exceeded expectations, giving U.S. lawmakers more reason to press
for changes in the foreign-exchange regime. Exports at an all-
time high are flooding the economy with cash, stoking lending and
investment and making it difficult for China to cool growth.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Top Democrat candidates back China currency bill

(Reuters) - The bill's sponsors include Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, and the ranking Republican, Iowa's Charles Grassley. It would force expedited action against nations seen as manipulating their currency, such as exclusion from some contracts and a fast track for new challenges at the World Trade Organization court.




While the proposed measures would apply to any country, the lawmakers have set their sights on China. Members of Congress say the Bush administration is doing too little to pressure Beijing to revalue the yuan, which some believe it undervalues by up to 40 percent to make its exports more competitive.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Volvo Plans More China Acquisitions to Tap Demand for Trucks, Excavators

(Bloomberg) -- Volvo AB, the world's third-largest
construction-equipment maker, aims to make further acquisitions
in China as road-building and real-estate projects boost sales
of wheel loaders, excavators and trucks.

``Acquisitions are natural and the most effective way to
expand,'' Lansi Jiang, vice president of Volvo (China)
Investment Co., said in an interview in Shanghai yesterday.
Volvo bought a 70 percent stake in Shandong Lingong Construction
Machinery Co. for 327.5 million yuan ($43 million) in January.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Guangzhou R&F Buys Shanghai Site to Tap Faster Growth in Property Prices

(Bloomberg) -- Guangzhou R&F Properties Co. said it's
bought its first development site in Shanghai, expanding for the
first time to China's largest city to tap property prices that
have outpaced the national average.

Guangzhou R&F, based in southern China's Guangzhou city,
paid 540 million yuan ($71 million) in an auction for the
183,300-square-meter site in Shanghai's Qingpu district, the
company said in an e-mailed press release last night. The price
is equivalent to 2,962 yuan per square meter, the release said.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

China Shenhua Energy Plans to Raise $6.28 Billion in Shanghai Share Sale

(Bloomberg) -- China Shenhua Energy Co., the nation's
largest coal producer, may raise HK$49.1 billion ($6.28 billion)
by selling shares in Shanghai to finance expansion.

The Beijing-based company plans to sell as many as 1.8
billion yuan-denominated A shares, it said in a statement to Hong
Kong's stock exchange late yesterday.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

China Reserves Plan to Worsen Five-Month Bond Slump, Shenyin Wanguo Says

(Bloomberg) -- China's bonds may extend a five-
month slide as a government fund sells about 1.5 trillion yuan
($200 billion) of debt to buy some of the nation's foreign
exchange reserves, Shenyin Wanguo Securities Co. said.

China is setting up the State Investment Co. that will
purchase a portion of the country's $1.2 trillion foreign-
exchange reserves from the central bank to seek higher returns
in global markets. The government said this month lawmakers will
review plans for a ``special bond sale'' to fund the acquisition.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

India, Indonesia, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan: Asian Local Bond Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following events and economic
reports may influence trading in Asian local-currency bonds
today. Yields are from the previous session.

China: The central bank sold 1 billion yuan ($131 million)
of three-year notes at a weekly auction yesterday, with the
yield rising for the first time in a month to 3.49 percent. The
government will sell 30 billion yuan of 10-year bonds today. It
sold the same maturity at a 3.4 percent yield in March.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Shanghai copper up 0.7 pct with LME, strikes eyed

(Reuters) - Shanghai copper rose 0.7 percent on Wednesday in tandem with an early pick-up in London prices as investors watched to see how a series of strike threats played out.

The most-active September copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose to 64,950 yuan a tonne at 0227 GMT, from 64,480 yuan on Monday, while copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange gained $45 to $7,475.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Yuan Rises to Highest Since End of Dollar Link; China May Allow More Gains

(Bloomberg) -- The yuan strengthened to its highest
since the end of a dollar link in July 2005 on speculation China
will allow appreciation to complement other monetary policies to
cool exports and investment.

Economic figures last week showed sales overseas,
investment, factory production and inflation accelerated in May,
raising the need for a stronger yuan to help ease expansion in
the world's fastest-growing major economy. The yuan had its
biggest weekly gain since the end of the link.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Citic Securities May Sell $2.5 Billion of Stock to Fund China Expansion

(Bloomberg) -- Citic Securities Co., the most
profitable brokerage in China, plans to sell 350 million new
shares, worth about $2.5 billion at yesterday's closing price, to
finance expansion.

The company didn't say at what price the shares would be
sold in its statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange today. Based
on the stock's closing price yesterday, the offer would be worth
18.9 billion yuan ($2.5 billion).


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

China to see more overseas investment via QDII

(Reuters) - However, Yin said the business still had huge potential
because the equities rally would peter out at some point and
speculation over the yuan would die down.




China authorised banks earlier this month to invest up to 50
percent of their QDII quotas in overseas stocks for the first
time, in an effort to boost investment yields and make the
programme more appealing.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Shanghai copper edges up, seen easing in June

(Reuters) - Shanghai copper edged up near 1 percent on Tuesday after rising by its 4-percent limit in the previous session, but the market may ease due to laggardly physical prices.

The most traded August copper contract was at 64,180 yuan at the end of the morning session, up 0.83 percent, or 530 yuan from Monday's close.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Sinopec Plans to Sell $2.6 Billion of Yuan Bonds to Build Sichuan Gas Pipe

(Bloomberg) -- China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., the
nation's largest oil refiner, said it plans to sell 20 billion
yuan ($2.6 billion) of domestic bonds to help fund a Sichuan gas
project.

Shareholders will vote on the plan today, Huang Wensheng,
spokesman for Sinopec, as China Petroleum & Chemical is known,
told reporters at the company's annual general meeting in
Beijing. The project's return on investment is estimated at 14
percent, he said.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

China Needs Bigger Rate Increases, Too Late for Yuan, CLSA's Walker Says

(Bloomberg) -- China needs to ``shock'' the economy
with more interest-rate increases because it's too late to use a
stronger yuan to cool growth, said Jim Walker, chief economist
at CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets.

The Chinese government is too concerned about derailing
export growth as the U.S. economy slows to let the yuan rise
faster, Hong Kong-based Walker said. Higher borrowing costs
would prevent the flood of cheap credit from spurring a stock-
market bubble and excessive investment.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

China Needs Bigger Rate Increases, Too Late to Use Yuan as Tool, CLSA Says

(Bloomberg) -- China needs to ``shock'' the economy
with more interest rate increases because it's too late to use a
stronger yuan to cool growth, said Jim Walker, chief economist
at CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets.

The Chinese government is too concerned about derailing
export growth as the U.S. economy slows to let the yuan rise
faster, Hong Kong-based Walker said. Higher borrowing costs
would prevent the flood of cheap credit from spurring a stock-
market bubble and excessive investment.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

China Needs Bigger Rate Increases, Too Late for Yuan, CLSA's Walker Says

(Bloomberg) -- China needs to ``shock'' the economy
with more interest rate increases because it's too late to use a
stronger yuan to cool growth, said Jim Walker, chief economist at
CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets.

The Chinese government is too concerned about derailing
export growth as the U.S. economy slows to let the yuan rise
faster, Hong Kong-based Walker said. Higher borrowing costs would
prevent the flood of cheap credit from spurring a stock-market
bubble and excessive investment.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

UPDATE 1-Zhou says more yuan flexibility will be gradual

(Reuters) - WASHINGTON, May 23 - The head of China's central
bank said on Wednesday that China plans to stick to a policy of
increasing the flexibility of its yuan currency only
gradually.




"We're also following the three principles to further
increase the flexibility of the yuan's exchange rate," People's
Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan told reporters, repeating
China's longstanding position that it will exercise
self-initiative, gradualism and control in reforming the yuan
exchange rate.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News