By Jose Antonio Ocampo – Two troubling features of the ongoing economic recovery are the depressed nature of world trade and the early revival of international global payment imbalances. Estimates by the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations indicate that the volume of international trade in 2010 will still be 7% to 8% below its 2008 peak, while many or most countries, including industrial nations, are seeking to boost their current accounts.
Production Minister Débora Giorgi came out to stage on Thursday to support Argentina's trading policies after comments made by China's Vice Minister of Commerce JIang Yaoping, who claimed the Argentine Government is increasingly promoting trade protectionism against Chinese products.
China has sent its ocean-going fishing vessels Kai li and An Xin Hai to the Antarctic for the 2010 krill fishing season. During a 23 day exploratory fishing they caught 2.000 tons of krill, with a daily output of 100 tons, three times than originally expected.
Latinamerican countries with a greater link to China such as Chile, Brazil and Peru are moving out of the crisis faster and stronger according to a World Bank report which underlines the increasing significance of the Asian giant for the region.
A stronger Chinese currency is “critical” for the good of the global economy, Brazil's central bank chief Henrique Meirelles said on Tuesday, joining a chorus of critics of China's foreign exchange policy.