From BusinessWeek:
The Chinese economy is pumped up. And whether Beijing can really wrestle it down is one of the bigger economic dramas in Asia this year. That task falls to Zhou Xiaochuan, the cerebral and seasoned governor of the People’s Bank of China.
The task is greatly complicated by the fact that Zhou has one arm tied behind his back and confronts a devilishly tricky balancing act. He must gently guide China’s scorching economy onto a more sustainable track without triggering a painful bust that could in turn trigger ugly social unrest.
The financial data coming out of China is alarming. Growth in the first quarter hit a torrid 10.3%. On June 12, the government reported that China’s global trade surplus hit $13 billion in May, with exports climbing 25% vs. the year-ago period. That brings the tally so far this year to $46 billion, vs. $102 billion for all of 2005. [Full Text]
