Energy | Nature

US treasury chief discusses currency, environment in China

Beijing - US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson met Chinese leaders on Tuesday for talks that he said would focus on the environment and economic issues including China's currency. Paulson began a  strategic economic dialogue  with Vice Premier Wu Yi a...
Posted : Tue, 31 Jul 2007 10:34:03 GMT
By : DPA
Category : Environment
News Alerts by Email ( click here )
Environment News | Home
Beijing - US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson met Chinese leaders on Tuesday for talks that he said would focus on the environment and economic issues including China's currency. Paulson began a "strategic economic dialogue" with Vice Premier Wu Yi and was scheduled to meet President Hu Jintao later on Tuesday.

Before his trip, Paulson said he would focus on the growing US trade gap with China and on China's currency policy and economic reforms.

His visit comes amid tensions between China and the United States and Europe over the huge Chinese trade surplus.

Beijing's critics charge that the low value of the yuan is a major contributing factor to the imbalance in trade by making Chinese exports cheaper and imports of foreign goods in China more expensive.

China last year chalked up a trade surplus of 177 billion dollars, a whopping 74 per cent increase above the 2005 figure.

Paulson began his China trip with a visit to the remote Qinghai Lake on Monday, saying in a treasury department statement that the lake provided "an example of the environmental challenges faced in China as well as the global nature of these problems."

In remarks before their private talks on Tuesday, Wu said Paulson's visit to Qinghai would help him to "attain a more complete picture of my country."

She said the poverty of sparsely populated Qinghai province, compared with the affluence of Beijing and other major cities, showed that China could not pose any threat to other nations.

"China's very goal in its development is so that its 1.3 billion people can eat their fill, dress warmly and live well," Wu said.

"Who could we threaten? We don't have the ability," she said.

Copyright DPA

Share/Save/Bookmark

Article : US treasury chief discusses currency, environment in China
Print this article
Email this article

Stay Updated
News gadget on your Google homepage
Subscribe to a news feed in Google Reader


Related News

Economic recovery, climate change tops G20 meeting - Update
St Andrews, Scotland - Finance ministers from the world's 20 leading economies were meeting Saturday in the Scottish golf resort of St Andrews in a bid to reinforce signs of a tentative recovery that have emerged in the global eoncomy. But coming in ...

Can anyone save a Copenhagen climate treaty? - Feature
Brussels - It is not often that negotiators call talks a failure before they have begun, but that seemed the case on Friday ahead of United Nations climate-change talks in Copenhagen. ...

Binding climate treaty in Copenhagen deemed unlikely - Summary
Barcelona - Negotiators from several European and developing countries stressed Friday the need for a legally binding treaty to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol but conceded such a deal may not be reached at the upcoming Copenhagen climate conference....

India, EU leaders hold talks on trade, climate change
New Delhi - Leaders from India and the European Union began discussions at a summit Friday during which both sides were expected to give a boost to negotiations for a free-trade pact and expand cooperation in areas ranging from counter-terrorism to c...

Key Senate panel approves climate bill; Republicans boycott - Summary
Washington - A key Senate committee approved a landmark climate bill Thursday that would force US companies to curb greenhouse-gas emissions blamed for global warming. But the 11-1 vote in the Senate Environment Committee was boycotted by opposition ...

Key Senate panel approves climate bill; Republicans boycott
Washington - A key Senate committee approved a landmark climate bill Thursday that would force US companies to curb greenhouse-gas emissions blamed for global warming. But the 11-1 vote in the Senate Environment Committee was boycotted by opposition ...

UN: Developed countries need to cut gas emissions by 25-40 per cent
Athens - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on developed countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25 to 40 per cent in an address to the Greek parliament Thursday. With just over a month remaining before a key UN climate change conference in...

Have your Say
Name
Email
Subject
Your Comment

Enter Verification code
 
  

 

 

More Environment News click here
Follow The Earth Times
Subscribe to RSS Follow Earth Times on TwitterNews by email
Share/Save/Bookmark

 
 



 
Subscribe to free Earthtimes
News Alerts by Email Click here
For RSS Feeds Click here
or Create your own RSS

Add to Google Toolbar
Breaking News
Press Releases

 


The Earth Times
News Category

© 2009 www.earthtimes.org, The Earth Times, All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy
Earth Times accept no responsibility or liability either directly or indirectly for views or opinions expressed in articles or comments.