(1) Liam Pleven, Carolyn Cui and Scott Kilman, Commodity Prices Surge; Gold, Cotton Touch New Highs as Fed Stimulus, Chinese Growth Drive Demand. Wall Street Journal, Nov. 10, 2010.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704635704575604443663385672.html
My comment: Only glance at the graphic.
(2) David E Sanger, China Challenges Role of US on Eve of Economic Meeting. New York Times, Nov. 10, 2010 (title in the pritn).
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/10/business/global/10global.html?scp=1&sq=David%20Sanger,%20China%20Challenges%20Role%20of%20US%20on%20Eve%20of%20Economic%20Meeting.%20&st=cse
(3) Norimitsu Onishi, Obama and China Play Rival Suitors to Indonesia. New York Times, Nov. 10, 2010.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/10/world/asia/10indo.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=china%20obama%20indonesia&st=cse
Note: The following report can be viewed as a translation.
美媒:美中都在争取向印尼示好. VOA Chinese, Nov. 10, 2010.
http://www.voanews.com/chinese/news/20101110-Obama-China-Play-Rival-Suitors-Indonesia-107025348.html
(4) Thomas L. Friedman, Containment-Lite. New York Times, Nov. 10, 2010.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/10/opinion/10friedman.html?scp=1&sq=friedman%20containment&st=cse
My comment: The report is mostly graphical. The title of the graphic is
How the world fell out of kilter.
(a) The first panel is
Goods and services imbalance.
2009, in $ [in the following chart, I will not list dollar figures for simplicity] and as % of GDP for G20 economies*
* Excludes European Union
Amercas
Canada -20%
US -2.7%
Mexico -2.6%
Brazil 0.3%
Argentina 5.5%
[ii] Europe
UK -2.1%
Germany 5.6%
France -1.9%
Italy -0.5%
Turkey -3.4%
Russia 6.3%
[iii] Asia
China 3.6%
Japan 0.4%
S Korea 3.3%
India -5.2%
Indonesia 2.8%
Saudi Arabia 8.1%
(iv) S Africa -3.4%
(v) Austtralia -0.9%
(b) The second panel, titled 2009 Merchandise trade ($bn, 2009 prices):
China import from Japan>S Korea> Taiwan [top three; with Taiwan was about 4/5 of S Korea]
(c) The third panel, titled China's trade, top selected goods groups:
In the category of "Electrical machinery," China import from Taiwan slightly more than from S Korea
(d) The next panel, titled Current account balance estimates for 2010:
China $270bn 4.7% (as % of GDP)
Germany $200bn 6.1%
Japan $166 bn 3.1%
Saudi Arabia $29bn 6.7%
Australia -30bn -2.4%
UK -50bn -2.2%
US -466bn -3.2%
My comment: The current account is the sum of the balance of trade (exports minus imports of goods and services), net factor income (such as interest and dividends) and net transfer payments (such as foreign aid). Generally speaking, the last two componets are small enough in comparison to the first component (goods and services).