Christine Lagarde praises Saudi role in stabilizing economy
Reuters UK
Wealthy oil exporters in the Gulf, as well as big emerging economies such as China, may be asked to contribute much of the increase. But some countries are reluctant to stump up money until Europe does more to fight the crisis, and until they obtain ...

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Premier Wen pledges to help fight eurozone crisis (Feb 3)
(ChinaPost.com.tw) - China's premier pledged to help Europe fight its debt crisis during a meeting Friday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel but a ruling party newspaper criticized sanctions on Iran and a human rights lawyer was blocked from meeting Merkel.


Farmland security (Feb 3)
Crisis on the financial markets has brought investors flocking to agricultural assets. But the risks may help drive a more sustainable approach, writes Alejandro Litovsky.How agricultural land is owned, what is grown on it, and by whom, will probably determine much of the next century’s politics, profits and, possibly, revolutions.

Western investors tend to see land and commodity assets as a more secure alternative to the volatile stock and bond markets, and an opportunity to tap into lucrative biofuel and forestry markets. But for countries like Saudi Arabia, India and China, where water scarcity compromises food production, the acquisition of farmland to grow and import food has come to be seen as a matter of national security.

Both of these trends are resulting in large-scale acquisitions of land in regions where the soil is still fertile and water still available. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, in just 10 years, over 200 million hectares have been leased to investors for agricu...


Why Fluency of Chinese Matters. (Feb 3)
I have been here 10 years and my Chinese is probably 75-80%, but even at that level, one of the things that I have come to accept about my last 10 years in China is that I could have accomplished much more (during my time in china) had I been fluent in the Chinese language. [...]


China Economy Set for ‘Hard Landing’ in 2012, Shilling Says (Feb 2)
China’s economy is headed for a “hard landing” this year as weaker demand overseas chokes off exports, said Gary Shilling, who correctly forecast the U.S. recession that began in December 2007.


China regulator publishes list of IPO applicants (Feb 2)
(SHANGHAI) China's securities regulator has for the first time published a full list of Chinese companies that have applied for an initial public offering on the Shanghai or Shenzhen markets, in a move aimed at boosting transparency of the system.