China's short-term foreign debt jumped 24 percent in the March-June quarter, possibly indicating speculative money inflows in anticipation of a stronger yuan.
The rise, to $343.8 billion, might also be a reflection of lower dollar borrowing costs, according to analysts.
Short-term foreign debt made up 66.9 percent of China's total debt, up from 62.3 percent at the end of March, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said on Saturday.
In April, the regulator cut the short-term foreign debt quota for 2010 to prevent "abnormal" capital inflows.
During the past 12 years, Chinese scientists have discovered more than 900 locations containing mineral deposits which are estimated to hold 5 billion tons of iron ore, as well as a vast array of other resources, the country's geological authorities said Saturday.
The large number of discoveries, including newly found reserves of iron and copper ores, coal, gas, and other types of raw minerals, came after a major geological mapping was launched in 1999, officials with the China Geological Survey (CGS) said at a press conference held in Beijing Saturday.
The CGS is a government-owned non-profit entity directly under the Ministry of Land and Resources.
Read more: China found 900 mineral locations in past 12 years
After an unexpectedly long sojourn in China, I returned to Silicon Valley for a week. It caused me to reflect on the different business cultures of my two homes; those differences collectively explain much about the continued dynamism of China's economy.
When visiting the U.S., I am always asking myself "where are all the people?" San Francisco downtown feels empty. I went to my bank, amazed to not see a long line of people getting waiting list numbers. I went to a FedEx ( FDX - news - people ) store, amazed to not see a long line of people getting waiting list numbers. I went to the doctor, amazed to not see a long line of people getting waiting list numbers. Medical care demonstrated how the U.S. and China have completely different cost structures. Dental cleaning in the U.S.: $289. Dental cleaning in China: $13. MRI in the U.S.: $855. MRI in China: $11, using a nearly identical machine.
Read more: China And Silicon Valley:The Chinese can-do attitude could be a lesson for California.
China's growing economic weight means that it now exerts a substantial influence on the economies of other emerging markets.
Channels of Influence
China's impact on other emerging markets operates through trade and capital flows:
This weekend, eBay’s CEO John Donahoe shared the stage with Alibaba’s maverick founder Jack Ma at his annual Alifest conference in Hangzhou, China. Gady Epstein, Forbes Beijing bureau chief, has an intriguing blog post about how Donahoe wished a happy birthday to Jack Ma who not only defeated eBay in China, but also “encroaches on eBay’s home turf.” Since Epstein referenced my recounting of the eBay-Alibaba battle, I thought it might serve readers well to provide an excerpt here from my book The Chinese Dream:
In 2004, eBay had just entered China and was planning to dominate the China market. Alibaba was a local Chinese company that helped small- and medium-sized enterprises conducting business online. Most people in the West had barely heard about it.
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