China is the richest country in the world

Accra, Sept. 22, GNA - China has foreign reserves of $1,950 billion, the world's highest, Mr Yu Wenzhe, Chinese Ambassador in Ghana, said on Tuesday at a press briefing to highlight China's socio-economic development during the past 60 years.

He said China's foreign exchange reserves rose from a mere $1.577 billion in 1978 to $1,950 billion in 2008 to rank first in the world, adding that the "opening up policy" adopted by China accelerated its socio-economic development.

Mr Yu said China's GDP rose from 67.9 billion Yuan in 1952 to 30,067 billion Yuan, about $4,397.7 billion in 2008.

He said estimates indicate that China's contribution to the world's economic growth exceeded 20 per cent in 2008.

The People's Republic of China would be 60 years on October 1, 2009 and the Chinese people and their allies are expected to celebrate the country's 60th anniversary with pomp and pride. The stated achievements, he noted, was due to China's vigorous pursuance of a strategy or model that featured high speed socio-economic development, saying that China has metamorphosed from agricultural country to an industrial nation with the result that the country was now ranked the third largest manufacturing country in the world. On the strength of China's development, Mr Yu Wenzhe urged African Leaders to translate the Continent's advantage in natural resources to socio-economic development.

Mr Yu said in 2006, the output of 172 categories of Chinese products ranked first on the world market, adding that about 70 per cent of DVDs and toys; 50 per cent of telephone sets and shoes; one-third of colour television sets; bags and suitcases produced throughout the world were made in China.

He said China's comprehensive national strength had become stronger; its economy had developed at high growth rate and had experienced rapid infrastructure development in the fields of transportation, energy and telecommunication.

China has moved "from a society of having only adequate food and clothing to a well-off society," he said, adding that poor social development had made way for coordinated socio-economic development. Mr Yu said China has provided Ghana with a variety of economic and technical assistance since both countries established diplomatic relations in the 1960s. These included grants; interest-free loans; concessional loans; general goods and training of human resources, "even though China is still a developing country and is facing great challenges in her development process," he added.

He said China's investment in Ghana has been very vigorous even in the face of the global financial crises with the Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC) Report crediting China with 21 new projects during the first half of 2009 - the highest in terms of numbers and the second highest in terms of value.

In recent years China has registered 387 projects worth $235.18 million dollars.

Bilateral trade between China and Ghana has maintained a steady growth, Mr Yu said, adding "China has become the second largest exporting country to Ghana, just listing behind Nigeria. Of the total Ghanaian imports, import from China accounted for 13 per cent and 14 per cent in 2006 and 2007, respectively. However, Chinese imports from Ghana decreased for two consecutive years since 2005". The Chinese Ambassador said: "To achieve a sustainable and steady development of China-Ghana bilateral trade, both sides should adopt effective measures to balance the trade." 22 Sept. 09

China's impact on Africa
PA

In Ghana as in other countries on the continent, the Chinese are here, very visible and very busy.

The first wave of Chinese flirtation with Africa was in the early years of independence and at the time when they themselves were serious communists and seemed to frown on business and all things capitalist.
They came to Africa to make friends, they built the first football stadiums and organised projects that the World Bank frowned upon.

They set the fashion for our presidents, getting the likes of Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana and Julius Nyerere of Tanzania into Mao suits.
This time around they are here for business, and let nobody forget that.
Bulldozer diplomacy.

Sixty years of communism in the People's Republic has lulled some people into forgetting just what committed businessmen the Chinese have been for 3,000 years. Their methods might be slightly different from those we have been used to from the Western nations we have been dealing with for the past 300 years, but the Chinese I have come across are as ruthless in business as any ?master of the universe? on Wall Street.

I have seen them operate at first hand over the past eight years, when I was in government in Ghana.

Many are willing to work seven days a week; if they can get away with paying $2, they will not pay $3; and if you are late with the payment of one interim invoice, they will stop work.

If it suits them, they claim they cannot speak or understand English to get themselves out of sticky situations.

Author: Elizabeth Ohene

BREAKING NEWS: Tests show Brown has tears to retina of his one good eye

10th October 2009

Sight tests have revealed Gordon Brown has two minor tears on the retina in his good right eye.

Downing Street announced the condition yesterday in a bid to clear up speculation over the Prime Minister's health but said he would not need to undergo further operations.

Mr Brown lost the sight in his left eye after he was kicked in the head playing rugby as a 16-year-old. A spokesman said check-ups over the summer and yesterday showed there had been no more deterioration in his vision.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown listens to a speech by Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Ed Balls at the Labour Party Conference, at the Brighton Centre, Brighton, Sussex.

 

The spokesman said: 'This summer Mr Brown had his annual eye check-up which was fine. Later he had his retina checked.

'After examinations surgeons found that the retina had two minor tears. However, as there has been no further deterioration, and no change in his eye sight, they decided against further operations.

'Yesterday Mr Brown visited Moorfields Hospital as part of regular checks on his eyes and this check was also fine.

Gordpn Brown lost the sight in his right eye after an accident in a rugby match at school.

 

'Mr Brown wants to thank the doctors and staff of the NHS particularly Moorfields Hospital. Were there to be any change, he would of course make a further statement.'

The spokesman added the condition did not affect Mr Brown's ability to do his job in any way.

He said the news had been released today for reasons of transparency.

Mr Brown discussed his eyesight in an interview with the BBC's Andrew Marr ahead of the Labour Party Conference at the end of last month.

He described losing the sight of one eye in a boyhood rugby injury.

'I then had exactly the same thing happen in my second eye. I had the same retinal detachment. I had the same fear that therefore I might lose my sight in that eye.

'I had to have a very big operation to deal with that and every year, of course, I have to check - as I did only a few days ago - that my eyesight is good.

'There has been absolutely no deterioration in my eyesight. I think people should be absolutely clear that although I had problems with my eyes and it has been very difficult over the years, I think people understand that you can do a job and you can work hard.

'I think it would be a terrible indictment of a political system if people thought because you had this medical condition, you couldn't do a job.'

During the interview, on BBC 1's Andrew Marr Show on September 27, Mr Brown was also forced to deny rumours he was dependent on prescription painkillers.

Some unconfirmed media reports had suggested Mr Brown might use concerns about his health as a reason for stepping down as prime minister ahead of the election.

Mr Brown insisted he had no medical problems which might get in the way of him continuing to serve as prime minister.

BBC journalist Andrew Marr questioned Gordon Brown about his health in an interview ahead of the Labour Party Conference

So what do tears to the retina mean?

Tears in the retina are not uncommon and affect up to 3% of adults over 40 in the UK, an expert said today.

 

Som Prasad, a consultant ophthalmologist at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside, said tears in the retina, the light sensitive tissue layer at the back of the eye, occur when the jelly-like vitreous humour peels off with age.

 

He compared the process to peeling off wallpaper which tears when it suddenly becomes stuck.

 

Mr Prasad said: "With age and time, the vitreous often breaks up and as it breaks up it peels off the retina.

 

"It usually comes off normally, but occasionally it causes a tear.

"It's like peeling off wallpaper."

 

Mr Prasad said this could eventually lead to retina detachment, where the retina separates from the underlying inner wall of the eye.

 

If the retina peels off completely it will not work properly and the picture becomes patchy or may be lost completely, he said.

 

According to the website of Moorfields Eye Hospital, where Prime Minister Gordon Brown went for his check-up yesterday, a tear or hole in the retina can be treated in a number of ways to seal the retina around the tear and prevent it from peeling off.

 

This can either by done with laser treatment, a procedure likened to spot welding, where the tear is heat-sealed by directing a laser beam of light through the pupil of the eye to produce a scar which seals the tear.

 

An alternative would be cryotherapy treatment, where a freezing treatment is applied by a pen-shaped probe to the outside of the eye.

 

This freezes through to the retinal hole and, as with laser treatment, promotes scar tissue as a seal, the hospital said.

 

The procedures may be "a little uncomfortable but not painful, and are usually performed under a local anaesthetic as an outpatient", the hospital said.

But if the retina becomes detached - as has happened to Mr Brown twice before - "more complicated operations" may also be needed to prevent the loss of sight.

Source: Mailonline