Govt and policies

Govt to raise RQFII quota for HK

The State Council has approved an increase of quota under the Renminbi Foreign Institutional Investor scheme for Hong Kong to 500 billion yuan ($73.55 billion) to further meet demand for yuan asset allocation by Hong Kong investors, the central bank said on Tuesday. As a pioneer to promote the yuan's internationalization, Hong Kong was granted a 270 billion yuan quota under the RQFII scheme in 2011 to facilitate cross-border overseas investment.

Foreign agencies may rate bonds

China has allowed international rating agencies to rate onshore bonds, provided they have an onshore branch registered with the People's Bank of China. The ruling was released on Monday, the first day of operation of the new Bond Connect scheme, which gives offshore investors direct access to the Chinese mainland's onshore bond market from Hong Kong. The PBOC, the regulator for rating agencies, outlined in a notice the requirements for assigning ratings to onshore issuers and notes listed in the interbank bond market. Domestic and foreign agencies should have sound corporate governance and must not have been involved in any major illegal acts in the past three years.

Hainan fair attracts 489.7 billion yuan

The 2017 Hainan Comprehensive Investment Fair held last week attracted a total of 489.7 billion yuan ($72.23 billion) from investors at home and abroad, according to latest statistics from the Hainan provincial government on Tuesday. Thirty leading State-owned enterprises signed agreements worth 125.9 billion yuan with Hainan provincial departments, with the projects to focus on tourism, new energy and internet-based intelligent ocean businesses.

Retail sales to maintain growth

China's retail sales will continue to see growth of about 10 percent in 2017 thanks to the stabilizing economy and better policy support, an official report forecast on Monday. Total value of online retail sales will grow by about 25 percent, much higher than growth rates for brick-and-mortar outlets, including shopping malls and supermarkets, according to the retail sector report made public by the Ministry of Commerce. Clear improvement in the country's economic performance was one of the major reasons behind the positive forecasts, the report said. China's economy grew 6.9 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, the fastest pace in six quarters. Retail sales of consumer goods in the first five months of the year rose 10.3 percent.

Companies and markets

TEDA plans smart industrial zone

The administration committee of the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area announced a plan to set up a smart industrial zone at the first World Intelligence Congress held in Tianjin. The industrial zone, which covers an area of 20.17 square kilometers, will rely heavily on advanced manufacturing industries such as automobiles, electronic devices, and smart equipment, with a special focus on high-end smart industrial clusters like artificial intelligence, smart manufacturing, and smart healthcare. Although the need for industrial robots is increasing, China still lags behind foreign countries in industrial robotics manufacturing and relies mainly on import for mid and high-end industrial robots. With the building of the smart industrial zone, TEDA hopes to make the robotics industry an example of the overall upgrading of the manufacturing industry.

Autren partners on healthcare

Shenzhen-based real estate developer Autren Holding Group has signed an agreement with the Strasbourg, France-based healthcare and surgical operation service provider IRCAD to open to five international healthcare centers over the next three years in first and second-tier Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Jinan, to further integrate healthcare into its property development business. Backed by IRCAD, these new centers will be supported by technologies including artificial intelligence and big data.

BAIJIU history book hits shelves

The China Alcoholic Drinks Association has released a book on the history of well-known Chinese liquor brand Shanxi Fenjiu. Baijiu, a traditional Chinese drink, has been made for around 5,000 years in China. Scholars said even though many of China's young consumers prefer Western liquor brands, baijiu is still growing in popularity among foreign businesspeople who are becoming familiar with Chinese business dinner table etiquette.

Abu Dhabi to promote fintech

The United Arab Emirate's second biggest financial free zone has agreed to work with a Chinese zone to promote investment and fintech in both countries, Abu Dhabi's financial free zone said on its website on Monday. Abu Dhabi Global Market, the financial free zone in the capital of the UAE, announced in a statement that its regulatory body has signed an agreement with the Authority of Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone. "The agreement aims to facilitate greater investment cooperation and opportunities, as well as to strengthen the financial and fintech ecosystems in both markets," added the statement. The move, according to ADGM, was to support China's Belt and Road Initiative, a grand project with the goals of building trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa on and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes.

Samsung says to invest in chips

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Tuesday it plans to invest at least 21.4 trillion won ($18.62 billion) in South Korea to raise output of chips and displays, seeking to boost momentum for its booming components businesses. Samsung, in a statement, said its plan includes 14.4 trillion won for its new NAND memory plant in Pyeongtaek by 2021 to increase output, and 6 trillion won to build another semiconductor production line at its existing Hwaseong complex. The world's largest memory maker by revenue also said it plans to add another NAND chip line in its Xi'an, China, manufacturing base, without disclosing the investment amount or time frame.

Around the world

Austria sees 3.1% drop in jobless

The unemployment rate in Austria saw a decline of 3.1 percent for June to take the total number of job seekers down to 374,973, the Public Employment Service Austria reported on Monday. The overall unemployment rate presently lies at 5.4 percent, considered favorable in the EU where the average rate is currently 7.8 percent. The fall in jobless figures has been observable as a trend for several months, and this time marks the largest drop seen so far in 2017. A notable 15.7 percent decrease in unemployment was recorded among young people, while men saw a larger 6.5 percent drop in their jobless numbers than women on 3.2 percent. Foreign nationals for whom a long-standing trend toward rising unemployment had been seen, also saw a decline of 3.7 percent.

Spain's economy to grow 2.6%

Spain's economy is expected to grow by 2.6 percent in 2018, according to a forecast by the Spanish government on Monday. The government has revised up its economic predictions for both 2017 and 2018. The Spanish economy would grow by 3 percent this year, as opposed to the previously predicted 2.7 percent, and by 2.6 percent in 2018, as opposed to the previously predicted 2.5 percent. The government also predicted a 17.4 percent unemployment rate for 2017, which is 0.1 percentage point lower than the rate previously predicted, and a 15.4 percent unemployment rate for 2018, which is 0.2 percentage point lower than the previous forecast. The government estimated that this year a total of 518,000 jobs will be created which will help cut unemployment by 488,000 to 3.75 million people. In 2018, it is expected that there will be 503,000 jobs more, while the number of unemployed people would fall by 393,000 to 3.36 million.

Vietnam reserve at record high

Vietnam's foreign reserve hit an record high of $42 billion as of June 30, according to the country's central bank. Le Minh Hung, the central bank's governor, said at a cabinet meeting on Monday that the reserve rose by $1 billion from late 2016, local online newspaper VnEconomy reported on Tuesday. Vietnam's foreign reserve rose to $34.6 billion in 2014 from $13-17 billion in the 2009-11 period, according to the Asian Development Bank.

China Daily - Agencies