Wen reiterates commitment to economic policies

We don’t yet know if last week’s 4.4% drop of the Shanghai Composite Index was a blip for an otherwise buoyant market, or a sign that the party is over. In either case, it seems to have been enough to convince the government that it was time for some Grandpa Wen bromides. And so here we have Wen Jiabao on the weekend, assuring everyone that the country will stay the course: more loose monetary policy and more active fiscal policy. Forgive us our cynicism, but the government’s faithfulness to its talking points – the central bank said pretty much the same thing last week – reeks of a distinct lack of faith in the strength of the economic recovery. Some investors are doing well, at least. In its first-ever financial report, sovereign-wealth fund China Investment Corp announced that it had achieved a return of 6.8% on its registered capital. That means it did a fair bit better than China’s steelmakers, if an article on a government-linked website is to be believed. Yes, everyone’s favorite Anglo-Australian miner, Rio Tinto, is being accused of overcharging China for its iron ore by US$1 billion over six years.