China is on the offensive. Long a bystander in international economic affairs, Beijing has in recent weeks announced a string of initiatives for remoulding the global financial system. And they all have one target - knocking the US dollar off its perch.
With international trade one of the most prominent victims of the global slowdown, economic stimulus spent on green goods and services ought to be good for globalisation as well as the environment.
Tim Geithner, President Barack Obama's choice for Treasury secretary, on Thursday accused China of "manipulating" its currency and pledged "aggressive" diplomatic action to drive Beijing into action.
The prospects for ministers pushing through an outline deal in the so-called Doha round of trade talks hang in the balance, with the US struggling with scepticism from Congress and its business and farm lobbies.
So clear are the signs of a US downturn that the National Bureau of Economic Research, the most prestigious US independent economic authority, said the country has been in recession since December 2007.
The chance of ministers meeting next month to push forward the so-called Doha round of trade talks increased yesterday after diplomats said they had made progress on setting goals for the negotiations.
Any lingering hopes that some parts of the world economy, particularly the fast-growing emerging markets such as China, would remain immune to the crisis were snuffed out
Even before Capitol Hill shocked the world's financial markets this week, the global economy was already mired in difficulties. And whether or not some version of the bail-out package gets passed in the near future, extricating it will be a real struggle.
As the economies of emerging markets boom and their biggest conglomerates grow into multinationals, more and more of the new corporate giants in countries ranging from India to China, Russia and Brazil are looking to wring greater profits out of their respective industries.
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