Concerns grow over China's sale of US bonds – papers

Evidence is mounting Chinese sales of US Treasury bonds over recent months are a warning to Washington, rather than a routine portfolio shift.

A front-page story in the state's China Information News said the record $34bn sale of US bonds in December was a "commendable" move. The article was then republished by the National Bureau of Statistics, reports The Telegraph.

It follows a piece last week in China Daily, the Politburo's voice, citing an official from the Chinese Academy of Sciences praising the move to "slash" holdings of US debt.

This was published on the same day US President Barack Obama received the Dalai Lama at the White House, defying protests from Beijing.

"There are ongoing spats between the US and China on so many fronts so you have to assume that this is some sort of implicit threat," said Neil Mellor, a currency expert at the Bank of New York Mellon, who cautioned that it can be hard to read the complex signals from China. Read more.