China wants strong dollars ... at least while it spends them

China Wants Strong Dollar,
Central Bank Chief Says

From Xinhua News Agency
via China Daily, Beijing
Thursday, November 22, 2007

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-11/22/content_6272623.htm

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Zhou Xiaochuan, China's central bank chief, has said that China supports a strong US dollar, putting weight behind the slumping currency.

The governor of the People's Bank of China, who has just attended a two-day G20 meeting focusing on global financial stability held in South Africa's Cape Town, said here Wednesday that US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson predicted a long-term recovery of the sliding dollar during the meeting, and asked about the Chinese side's opinion.

Zhou said he told Paulson that China hopes to see a strong dollar.

Zhou said the slight depreciation of the dollar does not mean the currency is weak. Only when it devalues drastically can it be called weak, the scenario of which is likely to bring uncertainty to the world economy, to the reluctance of all parties concerned.

The greenback has experienced continuous depreciation recently. Driven by a bleak picture of the housing sector, its value declined to record low against that of the euro on Tuesday.

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China Metallurgical Group,
Jiangxi Copper Win Right
to Develop Afghan Mine

By the Associated Press
via Yahoo News
Thursday, November 22, 2007

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/071122/china_afghanistan_copper.html?.v=1

SHANGHAI, China -- China Metallurgical Group Corp. and Jiangxi Copper Co., two of the country's biggest metals groups, plan to spend about $3.7 billion developing a large copper mine in Afghanistan, the companies said.
The companies have won the right to extract high-quality copper from the Anyak copper field near Kabul, state-run metal producer and contractor China Metallurgical said in a statement Thursday on its Web site.

Anyak has an estimated total deposits of 11 million tons of copper. China Metallurgical said it expects to produce 220,000 tons of copper a year from the mine.

Jiangxi Copper, China's largest integrated copper producer by output, said it will have the right to buy at least half of the copper generated by the project. The company, which has shares traded in Hong Kong, said in an announcement it will be responsible for at least 20 percent of the cost to set up a joint venture with China Metallurgical Group to develop the mine.

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