"It is necessary to have the day remembered to comfort the old, who were once serfs, and teach the young who have little idea of that part of history."

Gaisang, 62, a lawmaker at the Tibet Regional People's Congress, supporting the local legislature's decision to designate March 28 as the annual Serfs Emancipation Day

"We should avoid any excuse that might lead to the revitalization of trade protectionism, because it will do no good for the fight against the [world economic] crisis, nor will it help the healthy and stable development of the global economy."

Su Ning, Vice Governor of the People's Bank of China, disputing U.S. allegations that China is manipulating the exchange rates of its currency, which he said are untrue and misleading

"The Chinese premier was right: It all started in the United States."

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, admitting during a session at the World Economic Forum on January 29 that the current global economic crisis started in the United States

"Is it right for the banks to take their share of the responsibility, is it right for the banks to apologize for getting some big judgments wrong as we have over the course of the last years, is it right for us to acknowledge that? Absolutely it is."

John Varley, Group Chief Executive of UK banking group Barclays PLC, encouraging banks to apologize for the role they played in causing the worldwide credit crunch

"In the past, we were almost exclusively linked to developed countries in Europe; now we are more related to developing markets. It's a basic trend, and a healthy process of development for the continent."

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, predicting that the current global economic crisis might facilitate the process of linking Africa more closely to emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil, in an interview with China's Xinhua News Agency on January 29