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Govts & policies

Global downturn dragging growth

A global economic downturn is the main reason behind China's slowdown in growth, rather than domestic issues, said Justin Yifu Lin, former chief economist of the World Bank. The continued slowdown in China's economic growth is more the result of external and cyclical factors, he said at a forum held by Peking University on Sunday. China's GDP grew 6.7 percent in the first three quarters of 2016, steady with the first half and within the government's target range of between 6.5 and 7 percent for 2016. In 2015, China's economy recorded the slowest annual expansion in a quarter of a century by growing 6.9 percent year-on-year.

First deep sea oil spill response center mulled

China will set up its first deep sea oil spill emergency center in the southern city of Shenzhen, China's State asset supervisor said on its website. The oil spill response center, in the vicinity of CNOOC's Huizhou oilfield, will be capable to handle spills from pipelines located 1,500 meters below the sea surface level. The emergency center will provides services to oil blocks in both the East China Sea and the South China Sea areas, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council said.

Top grain province to ban GM crops

Farmers in northeast China's Heilongjiang province, China's top grain producer, will be prohibited from growing Genetically Modified crops, according to a provincial regulation. The regulation will become effective on May 1, 2017. Growing of GM corn, rice and soybean will be banned, while illegal production and sales of GM crops and supply of their seeds will also be prohibited. The new regulation also bans illegal production, processing, sale and imports of edible GM farm produce or edible farm products that contain GM ingredients. It requires all GM food be sold in a special zone, clearly indicated in stores.

Companies & markets

Nation's treasury bond futures close lower

China's treasury bond futures closed lower on Monday, with the contract for settlement in March 2017 closed 0.58 percent lower at 97.835 yuan ($14.2). The June 2017 contract closed 0.67 percent lower at 97.005 yuan. The September 2017 contract finished at 96.5 yuan, down 0.82 percent. The contracts are agreements to buy or sell treasury bonds at a predetermined price and set date. They allow investors to bet on and profit from the movements in the value of the bonds. The treasury bond futures were launched at the Shanghai-based China Financial Futures Exchange and started trading on Sept 6, 2013.

China-Africa industrial incubator project starts

Commencement ceremony was held for the first China-Africa industrial incubator project on Dec 18 in the export processing zone in Nairobi, Kenya. Once completed, the incubator would be the platform that provides convenience for small and medium-sized Chinese companies that enter the African market. The project could help strengthen cooperation between Chinese and African companies and Kenya welcomes more Chinese investors to seek opportunities in various fields, according to Adan Mohammed, Cabinet Secretary for Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives at the ceremony. With a planed investment of $200 million, the project is estimated to be completed in three years.

First test zone for self-driving cars opens

French car maker Renault, together with local partners, has opened China's first experimentation zone for self-driving cars in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. An electric autonomous driving car by Renault will operate on a 2-km-long lakeside road in the Sino-French Wuhan Ecological Demonstration City in Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, starting this weekend. Visitors will be allowed to test and experience the autonomous vehicle in the zone, which was jointly built by the Renault Group, its Sino-French joint venture Dongfeng Renault Automotive Company and Wuhan Caidian Ecological Development Group. According to the car maker, autonomous systems can make car travel safer, less stressful and more enjoyable by making decisions in tedious conditions, such as congested traffic.

Around the world

French GDP to grow by 1.2 percent

France is set to report 1.2 percent growth in its gross domestic product in 2016, the national statistics bureau Insee said in a report. After a contraction in the second three months of 2016 and tepid rebound in the following quarter, the French economy picked up by 0.4 percent in last quarter, pushing the growth rate to 1.2 for the whole year, down by one percentage point from a previous estimate. Insee's revised forecast fell short of the government's growth target of 1.4 percent. The report said that the lower-than-expected performance stemmed mainly from a significant fall in agriculture production, which was hit hard by the exceptionally bad climate conditions. Other factors were rolling strikes over labor reforms and a fall in tourism activities due to recent attacks.

South Korean Q4 exports forecast up

South Korea's fourth-quarter exports are forecast to grow for the first time in two years amid modest recovery in global trade, the country's trade minister said on Monday. Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Joo Hyung-hwan told a news conference that the October-December quarter exports are expected to post the first quarterly growth in two years and that next year's export growth rate would record over 2 percent. The country's exports, which account for about half of the export-driven economy, rose in August and November alone in the past 23 months.

Croatian govt: Credit outlook encouraging

Croatian Finance Minister Zdravko Maric said that it was positive news that a leading ratings agency upgraded the outlook for Croatia's credit rating and he pledged further structural reforms. Standard& Poor's said Croatia's long-term credit rating remained at "BB" and short-term credit rating "B", but the rating agency upgraded the outlook from negative to stable. This was the first improvement of Croatia's credit rating in nine years and it should certainly be seen positively, said Maric.

Greek realty still hit by debt, tax

The number of repudiations of real estate property inheritance in Greece has continued to be on rise in recent years due to the debt crisis and the related tax and debt burden, according to a survey published in Sunday's Kathimerini newspaper. Data gathered from district courts nationwide showed that thousands of Greeks had opted to disclaim their inheritance in the past six years. That was because they were unable to bear the increased taxation of real estate property, to pay off debts inherited from their relatives and to cover the cost of procedures concerning the acceptance of inheritance, the survey showed.

Belarus economy down by 2.7 percent

The Belarus economy decreased by 2.7 percent in the first 11 months of 2016, the National Statistics Committee of Belarus said. The statistics committee said that the country's industrial production fell by 0.9 percent compared with the same period a year ago. The official forecast of the Belarusian authorities for 2016, approved in December 2015, envisaged GDP growth at 0.3 percent. The Eurasian Development Bank said it expected a 2 percent slowdown in Belarus' GDP in 2016, with a gradual recovery in growth in 2018 to 0.5 percent.

China Daily - Agencies

(China Daily USA 12/20/2016 page14)