China Tech News

Colombo Financial City to arise

more...

LED by US airlines, net profits in the aviation industry are set to rise by some 11 percent in 2018, the International Air Transport Association said yesterday as it presented economic forecasts for the industry.

According to the forecast by the industry’s global trade association, combined net profits will hit US$38.4 billion, from a revised US$34.5 billion in 2017, with US carriers weighing in with almost half.

“Strong demand, efficiency and reduced interest payments will help airlines improve net profitability in 2018 despite rising (operating) costs,” said IATA, whose 280 members account for more than three quarters of global air traffic.

“These are good times for the global air transport industry. Safety performance is solid. We have a clear strategy that is delivering results on environmental performance,” said IATA director general and CEO Alexandre de Juniac.

“Airlines are achieving sustainable levels of profitability,” added de Juniac, while highlighting the challenges of rising fuel costs and well as labor and infrastructure expenses.

more...

CHINESE smartphone maker Xiaomi Inc has asked banks to pitch on December 15 for an initial public offering in 2018, people familiar with the plan told Reuters.

Xiaomi was valued at US$46 billion in a 2014 funding round completed before its sales stagnated. More recently it has seen expectations of its value pick up following strong results this year.

Its float could be the world’s “largest technology IPO” next year, according to one of the people.
“It is huge,” said another source, adding that a valuation of US$100 billion would “not be a crazy number”.

more...

US companies continued to hire at a strong rate last month, but the pace slowed from the hurricane-inflated 2017 peak seen in October, payroll firm ADP said yesterday.

Nearly every major segment of the economy added employees, including the biggest increase in manufacturing jobs on record, according to the report that is closely watched for hints of what is to come in the key government jobs report tomorrow.

Total private employment rose by 190,000 in November, cooling from the blistering 235,000 pace in the prior month, according to the data. The gain was exactly as forecast by economists.

more...

A Bitcoin mining company in Slovenia has been hacked for the possible theft of tens of millions of dollars, just days before the virtual currency, which hit a record above US$15,000 yesterday, is due to start trading on major US exchanges.
NiceHash, a company that mines Bitcoins on behalf of customers, said it is investigating a security breach and will stop operating for 24 hours while it verifies how many bitcoins were taken.



Research company Coindesk said that a wallet address referred to by NiceHash users indicates that about 4,700 Bitcoins had been stolen. At yesterday’s record price of about US$15,000, that puts the value at over US$70 million.
There was no immediate response from NiceHash to an emailed request for more details.

“The incident has been reported to the relevant authorities and law enforcement and we are cooperating with them as a matter of urgency,” it said. The statement urged users to change their online passwords.

Slovenian police are investigating the case together with authorities in other states, spokesman Bostjan Lindav said, without providing details.more...

A QUEEN-size bed, wardrobe, one-seat sofa, desk and chair, TV, air conditioner, washing machine, refrigerator and microwave oven. Check! All amenities accounted for in a standard Mofang rental flat. What’s missing here is lots of space.
Shanghai-based Mofang is China’s biggest institutional rental apartment company, with a presence in 20 major cities. It provides what some might call “efficiency” apartments — small, furnished units targeted at young white-collar workers priced out of the homebuying market. It’s a home at a hefty price.

A 30-square-meter unit in a downtown complex on Jiangning Road costs renters 6,800 yuan (US$1,026), excluding utility fees that usually add up to about 300 yuan per month on average. Leases range from one to 12 months. Renters who stay six months or longer receive a 10 percent discount. Those who pay by quarter instead of monthly avoid an extra 100-a-month charge, and all renters must pay a deposit equal to one month’s rent.

“It all sounds pretty expensive,” said an acquaintance of mine, who has been leasing a similar-size one-bedroom apartment about 1.5 kilometers away from Jing’an Temple for more than two years. “Except for a one-time brokerage fee required in my case, I frankly don’t see much difference between the chain-operated apartments you describe and the one I rent from a private individual, but my costs are almost 50 percent lower.”

more...

SRILANKA on Saturday handed over a deep-sea port to a Chi*nese firm, in a deal to boost the cash-strapped island’s finances that has raised concerns at home and abroad over China’s growing influence.

The US$1.12 billion deal first announced in July lets a Chinese state company take over the southern port of Hambantota, which straddles the world’s bus*iest east-west shipping route, on a 99-year lease.

“With the signing of the agree*ment today the Treasury has received US$300 million,” Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said at a ceremony in Colombo to mark the handover.
“This is the beginning of our debt settlement,” he said.

more...

UK inflation at highest in 6 years



more...

TRADE ministers are set to wrap up their biennial World Trade Organization meeting without having reached a single agreement yesterday, still reeling from criticism brought by the United States, once the WTO’s driving force.
The ministers gathered in Buenos Aires were never expected to agree great reforms, with relatively minor and unrelated proposals on the table, including discussions on fishing subsidies and e-commerce.

But a discordant intervention by US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on the first morning effectively left the conference adrift, since the WTO requires consensus — unanimity among all 164 members — to reach any agreement.

more...

THE interest rates for China’s open market operations rose by 5 basis points yesterday, following the interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday.

The operations included 30 billion yuan (US$4.54 billion) of seven-day reverse repos, with the interest rate up from 2.45 percent to 2.5 percent, and 20 billion yuan of 28-day reverse repos, with the rate up from 2.75 percent to 2.8 percent, the People’s Bank of China said on its website.

The PBOC also injected 288 billion yuan via one-year medium-term lending facility, with the interest rate up from 3.2 percent to 3.25 percent.

The central bank said it aimed to offset the impact on market liquidity from tax payments and maturing MLF later this month, and meet the seasonal liquidity needs of banks near the year end.

more...