China Tech News

CHINA plans to stamp out all remaining cryptocurrency trading in the country by blocking access to overseas-based websites and removing related applications from app stores.



The moves were outlined in a report on Sunday by Financial News, a publication under the People’s Bank of China, which said the aim was to snuff out the “dying cinders” of cryptocurrency trading and initial coin offerings “which are glowing once more.”

Faced with Chinese citizens who continue to trade cryptocurrency on platforms operated beyond the country’s reach, or take part in initial coin offerings, authorities will “ratchet up oversight in a sustained manner,” the report said.
After launching a campaign last year, authorities eliminated most cryptocurrency trading in the country. China’s share of trading plummeted from 90 percent of the world to below one percent, the report said.

That crackdown sent Chinese cryptocurrency traders to overseas platforms operated in Hong Kong and Japan. The latest regulatory moves aim to cut off access to them.

more...

CHINA created over 66 million urban jobs over the past five years, official data showed.

Over the five years, 90 percent of college graduates found jobs and more than 1.1 million redundant workers resulting from China’s excess production capacity cuts were re-employed, said Yin Weimin, minister of human resources and social security.

By the end of 2017, the joblesst rate in urban areas was 3.9 percent, the lowest since 2002, official data showed.
From 2013 to 2017, over 13 million jobs were created annually in urban areas, despite the negative effect of economic structuring and slowing growth, official data showed.

In 2017, 13.51 million new jobs were created in urban areas. The central government set an increase of 11 million jobs as its official target for the whole of 2017.

more...

A ferry sails past Pasir Panjang container terminal port in Singapore yesterday. Singapore’s economy is set to have grown less than initially expected in the fourth quarter as factory activity and exports slowed, suggesting the recent easing in booming sales of electronics could hit growth this year.



A Reuters poll yesterday predicted quarterly growth at 2 percent in the October-December period on a seasonally adjusted and annual basis, slowing from the 2.8 percent preliminary figure.

more...

CHINA’S manufacturing activity edged down in December, official data showed yesterday, but largely maintained momentum despite curbs on heavy industry aimed at taming the country’s chronic air pollution.

The manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI), a gauge of factory conditions, stood at 51.6 last month, the National Bureau of Statistics said, compared to 51.8 in November.

Anything above 50 is considered growth, while under 50 points to contraction.
China has curbed activity in heavy industries in the northeast to reduce surplus capacity and the heavy smog that typically blankets the region in late autumn and winter.

The index in December is on par with the annual average, still pointing to a strong resilience in China’s growth, according to NBS senior statistician Zhao Qinghe.

more...

China’s banking regulator has introduced steps to cut the red tape for foreign banks, Xinhua news agency said on Saturday, as part of the government’s ongoing effort to promote investment in the country’s

more...

THE board of directors of The Weinstein Company said late Sunday the New York film and TV studio planned to file for bankruptcy after talks to sell it collapsed.

The firm had been seeking a deal to spare it from bankruptcy after more than 70 women accused film producer Harvey Weinstein, its ex-chairman and once one of Hollywood’s most influential men, of sexual misconduct including rape. Weinstein denies having non-consensual sex with anyone.

“The Weinstein Company has been engaged in an active sale process in the hopes of preserving assets and jobs,” the board said in a statement reported by newspapers including the San Francisco Chronicle and the Los Angeles Times. “Today, those discussions concluded without a signed agreement.”

The board had “no choice but to pursue its only viable option to maximize the Company’s remaining value: an orderly bankruptcy process.”

more...

The Commerce Ministry said it has removed anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on US white-feathered broiler chickens.
The move became effective yesterday. The tariffs were first imposed in 2010 and were extended for a further five years in 2016.

The removal of penalties comes against a backdrop of an escalating trade spat between the two countries, after Washington slapped duties on washing machines and solar panels, triggering a probe by China into US sorghum.
The move on broiler chickens is largely inconsequential for the American poultry industry, since China’s 2015 ban on imports of US poultry, poultry products and eggs due to avian influenza remains in place.

more...

The number of Chinese billionaires pulling away from the United States is growing every year with as many as 819 billionaires from China, compared with 571 from the US, the Hurun Rich List showed yesterday.
A total of 2,694 billionaires from 69 countries and regions are included in the list — up 437 from a year ago. Among them, 567 are new entrants, with 210 from China.

Their total wealth increased 31 percent to US$10.5 trillion, the report said, adding that the wealth was still concentrated in the hands of few people. The combined net worth of the Chinese billionaires was US$2.5trillion.
“A boom in China, a weak dollar and a 26 percent hike in the Nasdaq have led to a surge in dollar billionaires across the world,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun’s chairman and chief researcher of the report.

Global economic growth recorded the fastest pace since 2011, adding 3 percent last year, and a significant acceleration compared with 2.4 percent the previous year.

more...

CHINA’S manufacturing sector rose modestly in February to a nine-month high, bolstered by firmer client demand and increasing prices, according to a private survey released by Caixin yesterday.

The Caixin China General Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index, an indicator of manufacturing activity, climbed to 51.6 in February from 51.5 in January, notching a peak since August last year, the survey conducted by financial information service provider Markit and sponsored by Caixin Media Co showed.

The index showed continuous improvement in business conditions across China’s manufacturing sector, pushing it further above the 50-point threshold separating expansion from contraction.
“This suggests that the durability of China’s economy will persist,” said Zhong Zhengsheng, director of macroeconomic analysis at CEBM Group, a subsidiary of Caixin Insight Group.

more...

SHANGHAI’S merchandise sales are set to grow 8 percent this year, with retail sales to rise 8 percent and e-commerce to jump 20 percent, the Shanghai Commission of Commerce said yesterday.



The city set the same 8 percent year-on-year target for merchandise sales and retail sales this year.
E-commerce is set to soar 20 percent, with online transactions exceeding 1 trillion yuan (US$ 160 billion) this year. The import and export of goods and services are set to grow 5 percent each.

In 2017, the city’s merchandise trade rose 12 percent year on year to 11.3 trillion yuan, 4.1 percentage points faster than 2016, the commis*sion said.
Shanghai ranked first in China for retail sales at 1.2 trillion yuan, up 8.1 percent yearly, with the growth pace 0.1 percentage point faster than 2016’s.

more...