News in review Friday, October 13 to Thursday, October 19

Updated: 2013-10-18 11:21

(China Daily USA)

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News in review Friday, October 13 to Thursday, October 19

News in review Friday, October 13 to Thursday, October 19

Friday - October 11

China, EU sign a currency swap agreement

In a major step for the yuan's internationalization, China and the European Union signed a currency swap agreement to boost trade and financial stability.

The three-year swap line with a maximum value of 350 billion yuan ($57 billion) is the largest the People's Bank of China has signed with a foreign central bank outside of Asia, more than the 200-billion yuan agreement with the Bank of England.

Experts said that the agreement with the European Central Bank is a reflection of the increasing demand for the Chinese currency in financial transactions in the euro zone.

Michael Moore, a professor of finance at Warwick Business School in the UK, said the swap reflects China's ambition to raise the international profile of its currency.

Alibaba drops plans to list IPO on HK exchange

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, the largest e-commerce company on the Chinese mainland, won't launch an initial public offering in Hong Kong.

In making the announcement on Thursday, Jonathan Lu, Alibaba's chief executive officer, said the company has not yet decided to list on any other exchange, including the New York Stock Exchange. An Alibaba representative added that the company has not yet decided on an IPO timetable.

The company had initially planned to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange. However, the two sides couldn't reach an agreement on Alibaba's unique shareholding structure - specifically that 28 partners, mainly founders and senior executives, make all the key operating decisions, despite only owning about 13 percent of the company.

Monday - October 14

Yuan clearing bank may be set up in Thailand

China may establish a yuan clearing bank in Thailand to meet demand for currency settlements between the two countries, Premier Li Keqiang said.

The move is to encourage more trade settlement in the yuan between businesses from the two nations, Li said Friday during a speech to the Thai parliament.

Yang Baoyun, a professor of Southeast Asian studies at Peking University, said the new clearance bank and a currency swap deal would free businesses and entrepreneurs from the trouble of currency exchanges.

China is now Thailand's largest trading partner, while Thailand is China's second-largest trading partner in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Hershey to launch China product in the US

US candy giant Hershey Co will launch its first completely new product in 30 years in the United States in January with a sweet that had its debut in China.

The caramel confection called Lancaster was rolled out in Wuhan, Hangzhou and Chengdu in June. The Pennsylvania candy-maker's US launch caps a new process which developed the same product for two markets simultaneously, Hershey spokesman Jeff Beckman said in an interview. Although the candies carry the same brand name and similar packaging, their tastes were tweaked to fit their respective markets.

The two products are made in their respective markets with different technologies, Beckman said. Lancaster will be produced in Hunan province by a local confectionery maker using imported milk. (Photo 1)

Tuesday - October 15

News in review Friday, October 13 to Thursday, October 19

US Chinatowns face risk of disappearing

US Chinatowns are at risk of disappearing due to accelerated gentrification, according to a new report.

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) surveyed Chinatowns in Boston, New York and Philadelphia in 2011 and found that the Asian populations in all communities are decreasing while rent and median housing value are increasing.

The organization found that in Boston's Chinatown, the median household income for non-Hispanic whites in Chinatown increased to $84,255 between 2005 to 2009 from $40,554 in 2000, while the median income for Asians dropped to $13,057 from $16,820 in the same time period. According to census numbers, the neighborhood saw a 99 percent increase in its white population between 2000 and 2010, while the Asian population increased by 12 percent. (Photo 2)

September inflation hits 7-month high

China's inflation hit a seven-month high in September, but economists said it will not lead the government to revise its reform policies, economists said.

The consumer price index, the main gauge of inflation, increased 3.1 percent year-on-year in September, compared with 2.6 percent in August, according to The National Bureau of Statistics.

While September CPI rose above 3 percent, it is unlikely to trigger changes in monetary policy, said Zhu Haibin, chief economist in China at JPMorgan. "We expect no change in benchmark interest rates and the reserve requirement ratio throughout the year, and credit growth will moderate further," he said.

Economists said that China's economic growth is expected to accelerate slightly in the third quarter.

Wednesday - October 16

Yao, NBA to open basketball facility for teenagers

It has been named the NBA Yao School, and Yao Ming, the former NBA All-Star, and the National Basketball Association will open the extracurricular basketball training facility for Chinese teenagers to play sports and stay healthy.

"The current poor fitness status of Chinese students and some regular schools' overemphasis on academic performance really worried me," Yao said before the tip-off of the preseason game between the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers at the MasterCard Center in Beijing on Tuesday.

According to the results of the 2013 national physical condition survey released in August, the general fitness level of Chinese teenagers has been declining since 1995 and conditions such as obesity and myopia are increasing. (Photo 3)

Chinese M&A deals overseas reach new high

Chinese overseas mergers and acquisitions reached a new high in the first half of the year, and will likely stay buoyant, though economic improvements in Europe and the United States are expected to push up valuations, according to a new the report.

The report by global accounting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu said the two regions will be the main targets for Chinese buyers due to the rising demand from Chinese consumers for better products.

Chinese companies closed 98 deals worth $35.3 billion in the January-June period, compared with 97 transactions totaling $22.9 billion in the same period last year. Mega deals worth more than $1 billion accounted for a record high of 13 percent of total deals this year, as Chinese investors are more confident about overseas activity.

Thursday - October 17

Alipay to use sound waves for wallet app upgrade

Alipay - China's largest e-payments company - will launch a new version of its wallet mobile app in November that uses sound-wave technology to make offline transactions.

The wallet will enable the transfer of funds even when users don't have access to the Web, moving beyond barcode or QR-code recognition, said Fan Zhiming, the president of small and micro financial services unit at parent company Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd

The upgrade will consolidate its already solid position in the mobile-payment market, enhance online-to-offline payment solutions and fend off rivals such as WeChat, industry observers said.

Sound-wave payment technology uses the white noise generated by smartphones to transfer digital information to other Alipay Wallet-equipped devices.

Number of billionaires in China is at a record high

The number of Chinese billionaires surged to a record 168 this year from 113 last year, according to Forbes.

The 2013 Forbes China Rich List, which was released on Wednesday, said the weak performance of the Chinese stock market affected last year's count. In 2003, when Forbes published the list in China for the first time, there was only one person with a fortune estimated at $1 billion.

The total wealth of the top 400 rich people amounted to 3.47 trillion yuan, up 35 percent year-on-year, while the total wealth of the richest 100 people surged 44 percent compared with last year to more than 1.92 trillion yuan.

The chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, Wang Jianlin, is at the top of the list for the first time this year with a total fortune of 86 billion yuan from 48 billion yuan last year.

News in review Friday, October 13 to Thursday, October 19

A staff member of the Electronic Manufacturer Exposition in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, and a visitor look over an electric bicycle. IT manufacturers, dealers, purchasers and research and development institutions from all over the world are displaying their latest technology and products at the five-day exposition that started on Wednesday. Wang Jiankang / Asianewsphoto

News in review Friday, October 13 to Thursday, October 19

(China Daily USA 10/18/2013 page8)

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