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learn mandarin – China to issue 28 bln yuan of 20-year T-bonds from Thursday

hsknet2net — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 06:26:49 +0000

China’s Ministry of Finance said Wednesday it will sell 28 billion yuan (4.12 billion U.S. dollars) of 20-year book-entry treasury bonds from Thursday.

The bonds will have a fixed annual interest rate of 3.82 percent, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

Interest will be paid on the bonds every half year

The bonds will be sold to the public from Sept. 2 to Sept. 6 and become tradable on Sept. 8 through the national inter-bank bond market and over the counter at designated commercial banks.

The bonds will be the second of their kind issued in 2010. The ministry sold the previous batch in April at a yield of 3.96 percent.

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learn Chinese online – Gold pulls back from 2-month high as safe-haven demand fizzles

hsknet2net — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 06:25:28 +0000

Gold futures on the COMEX Division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell below its fresh 2-month high and ended moderately lower on Wednesday, as a series of stronger-than-expected economic data improved investors’ overall macro-economic outlook and dulled the metal’s allure as a safe- haven. Silver edged lower, but platinum inched up.

The most active gold contract for December delivery lost 2.2 U. S. dollars or 0.2 percent, to finish at 1,248.1 dollars per ounce.

Gold surged earlier Wednesday and touched 1,256.6 dollar per ounce, the highest intraday price since June 28, after a report released by ADP Employer Service showed the private-sector jobs in the U.S. unexpectedly dropped by 10,000 in August, and U.S. construction spending in July plunged to its lowest rate in 10 years, according to U.S. Commerce Department.

But a chain of upbeat economic data took the steam out of gold’ s rally earlier in the morning. A stronger-than-expected ISM reading, combined with strong manufacturing data from China, and a better-than-expected economic growth in Australia have triggered the evaporation of bearish sentiment in the market, and in turn dulled the safe-haven shine of the precious metal.

Meanwhile, the sharp rally in the U.S. equity markets also helped to aggravate the decline in gold, as investors who have regained their risk appetite sold off gold to take profits and speculated in stocks.

December silver dipped 3.9 cents, or 0.2 percent, to 19.393 dollars per ounce. October platinum added 12.2 dollars, or 0.8 percent, to 1,535.7 dollars per ounce.

Chinese language – Developed countries need long-term efforts to trim public debt: IMF

hsknet2net — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 06:24:12 +0000

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday called on developed countries to pursue long- term policy reforms to trim public debt.

“In order to protect the fragile economic recovery, support growth and job creation and provide reassurance to capital markets, fiscal adjustment plans must be clearly defined — but with a focus on the medium term rather than seeking a quick fix,” the IMF said in a research paper.

“Public debt levels among advanced economies have reached levels not seen before in the absence of a major war,” said Carlo Cottarelli, Director of the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department.

General government debt in the G20 advanced economies surged from 78 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2007 to 97 percent of GDP in 2009 and is projected to rise to 115 percent of GDP in 2015, according to the IMF.

Public debt in many developed countries has ballooned during the financial crisis and economic downturn.

“High public debt is due not only to the financial crisis, but also to weak fiscal policy over the preceding decades, when debt levels ratcheted up during hard times but failed to fall in better years,” said Cottarelli.

“The task ahead is all the more complicated because aging societies and global warming are putting additional pressure on public finances. This calls attention to the critical need for long-term fiscal reforms that will guarantee a gradual but sustained improvement in debt positions over the coming decades,” he added.

China Business – U.S. stocks enter September with big rally

hsknet2net — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 07:21:21 +0000

Graphics shows European-U.S.main Stocks markets data on Sept.1, 2010. (Xinhua/Meng Lijing)

NEW YORK, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) — Leaving the worst August in ten years behind, the U.S. stocks started September with a strong rally on Wednesday as market confidence in global recovery was restored.

Mounting concerns about the health of the economic recovery pressured all three major indexes sharply lower last month, posting first down August in five years and the worst August since 2001.

But a series of upbeat economic data from both the United States and overseas markets boosted sentiment. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped more than 250 points, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index and the Nasdaq composite index rallied nearly three percent, all refreshing the largest daily gain since early July.

The Dow rallied 254.75 points, or 2.54 percent, to 10,269.47. The S&P 500 gained 30.96 points, or 2.95 percent, to 1,080.29 and the Nasdaq surged 62.81 points, or 2.97 percent, to 2,176.84.

Stocks were set for a higher opening after data from China and Australia sent overseas equity markets rising.

China’s Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said on Wednesday that purchasing managers indexes climbed after three straight months of drops, showing the country’s manufacturing sector was still expanding. Meanwhile, government data showed that the Australian economy grew in the second quarter at its fastest pace in three years, exceeding economists’ expectation.

Major indexes surged further after the Institute of Supply Management’s manufacturing figures showed an unexpected rise in U. S. manufacturing activity in August. The index rose to 56.3 compared with expectations of a drop to 52.8.

Investors largely shrugged off disappointing reports from labor and housing market. According to ADP employment report, U.S. private-sector employment surprisingly fell 10,000 in August, breaking a six-month run of increases.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that construction spending in July fell by one percent, twice as much as forecast, to the lowest level in ten years.

However, market staged a broad-based rally. All 30 Dow components closed higher, with Bank of America gaining over 6 percent.

Optimism lifted commodities and pressured on safe havens like the dollar.

A drop in gasoline and distillate fuels further affirmed crude futures’ gains. Light, sweet crude for October delivery gained 1. 99 dollars, or 2.7 percent, to settle at 73.91 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Front month Brent crude rallied 1.71 dollars to settle at 76.35 dollars a barrel in London.

The dollar slid against major currencies on Wednesday as the market’s risk appetite picked up. The euro rose to 1.2798 dollars from 1.2665 late Tuesday, and the British pound rallied to 1.5446 dollars from 1.5335.

In other trading, the dollar rose to 84.46 Japanese yen from 84. 07, edged lower to 1.0160 Swiss francs from 1.0164, and retreated to 1.0525 Canadian dollars from 1.0672 late Tuesday.

China Travel – Peru, Panama agree to start free trade negotiations

hsknet2net — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 09:59:30 +0000

Peru and Panama on Thursday signed bilateral agreements to launch free trade negotiations.

Under the agreements, the two countries will start to negotiate a free trade agreement (FTA) aimed at strengthening economic integration and boosting trade between both countries.

These agreements were signed by Peruvian Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister Martin Perez and Panamanian Commerce and Industry Minister Roberto Henriquez.

Peruvian President Alan Garcia and his visiting Panamanian counterpart Ricardo Martinelli attended the signing ceremony. Both presidents agreed that an FTA will be an efficient tool not only to improve commercial balance, but also boost mutual investments.

China Business – New Zealand minister urges exports to target Chinese market

hsknet2net — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:57:47 +0000

New Zealand exporters should be targeting markets such as aspiring middle classes in China where people can afford to buy premium New Zealand produce such as wines, said New Zealand Agriculture Minister David Carter.

“The challenge we have is to make sure the Chinese middle class gets a taste for New Zealand wine, because that middle class is huge,” he told Winegrowers NZ’s national conference in South Island town of Blenheim on Friday.

“Of China’s 1.3 billion people, at least 250 million earn the same per capita income as the average New Zealander, so they can afford our premium products,” he said.

Carter told the conference that China was now New Zealand’s second-largest trading partner and that the free trade deal meant from the end of next year there would be no Chinese tariffs on New Zealand wine.

“Our exporters will have a significant advantage over international competitors who will continue to pay tariffs between 14 and 20 percent,” he said.

Over the next 40 years the world’s population was expected to increase from 6 billion to 9 billion people, he said.

“As a producer of premium products, our target will be the upper and middle classes — the 50 million people in the future that can afford, and are prepared to pay more, for high quality food and beverage that is backed by integrity and reputation,” he said.

HSK – China to expand trade with Arab, central Asian countries

hsknet2net — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 09:57:12 +0000

China’s only Muslim autonomous region is hoping to set up a free trade zone to expand two-way trade with Islamic countries, the local government said Friday.

“We are hoping to further trade and economic cooperation with the world’s Muslim community,” said Ma Fu, head of the commerce department in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Ma said the regional government had worked out initial plans for a free trade zone with the Muslim countries, but did not elaborate on the plans or give a detailed timetable.

He said Ningxia region, where 36 percent of the 6.2 million people are Muslims, traditionally enjoyed cultural and trade relations with the Arabian countries.

In recent decades, the region has relied largely on the more developed economies — including the United States, Japan, Republic of Korea and the European countries — as its destination markets.

The global financial crisis of 2008, however, severely dented the region’s export earnings because of its reliance on these economies and caused a rethink about its overseas trade.

“We need to restructure our export markets and products,” said Ma, “and will explore new markets in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Central Asia.”

He said trade with these markets would include Muslim food and other products specific to Muslims.

By 2015, he said the region would foster 20 export-oriented manufacturers of Muslim products, including processed food and farm produce.

Ningxia, whose Muslim population is at least 10 percent of China’s 20 million Muslims, also hopes to attract investment from the Arab Leagues’s 22 member states.

In September, it will host a China-Arab Economic and Trade Forum.

The regional government has issued a plan to train more Arabic language professionals in the coming decade.

Last year, two-way trade between China and the Arab states hit 107.4 billion U.S. dollars, compared with 36.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2004.

China and Arab countries have relations dating back about 2,000 years ago. China has diplomatic ties with all 22 members of the Arab League.

MOU TO CEMENT TIES WITH CENTRAL ASIAN NEIGHBORS

Officials in southwest China’s Sichuan Province signed a memorandum of understanding Thursday on regional cooperation with five central Asian countries.

The MOU was signed between the Sichuan branch of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Kyrgyzstan and the Embassy of Tajikistan in China.

It covers diverse sectors for cooperation between China and the five central Asian countries, including Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

Sichuan Province has established trade and economic relations with all these countries in oil, gas, agriculture as well as service industries, said Chen Baoming, deputy secretary-general with the provincial government.

learn Chinese online – Companies listed on China’s GEM report 25.56% growth in H1

hsknet2net — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 09:33:52 +0000

Comparable net profits of 105 companies listed on China’s Nasdaq-style Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) rose 25.56 percent from a year earlier in the first half of the year, lagging far behind those on the country’s main boards.

H1 net profits of 1,044 companies on the main boards in Shanghai and Shenzhen surged by 47.8 percent. The GEM expansion was also far behind the 43-percent H1 growth of the country’s small and medium enterprises (SME) board, said Friday’s China Securities Journal.

Among the 105 GEM companies, H1 profits of 83 grew while the remaining 22 posted declines. Zhanjiang Guolian Aquatic Products Co., Ltd. was the only one reporting losses in the first half, according to the newspaper.

The total operating revenue of the 105 companies, among which 88 rose and 17 fell, stood at 18.23 billion yuan (about 2.68 billion U.S. dollars), up 27.08 percent from a year earlier.

On Oct. 30 last year, shares soared in a wild first day of trading on the long-awaited Nasdaq-style board, with all 28 listed small and medium-sized firms rocketing on fevered interest from investors. Trading in all shares on the ChiNext in Shenzhen was suspended at least once as market circuit-breakers in place to curb rampant speculation were tripped.

Unlike companies on the main board, GEM listings are small-sized start-ups, with considerable growth potential but high uncertainty. The rules for the delisting of GEM-listed companies are much harsher than the main board. Once they are forced to delist, investors will suffer huge losses.

Analysts have warned that the nascent GEM faces overvaluation challenges.

learn Chinese – Despite investor losses, China’s major fund managers cash in on high management fees

hsknet2net — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 09:33:10 +0000

China’s major fund managers reported high profits for the first half of this year despite investors’ huge losses after buying their funds.

China’s 18 big fund companies posted net profits totaling 2.34 billion yuan (344.41 million U.S. dollars) in the January-June period, up 22 percent from a year ago, said WIND, a Chinese financial terminal service provider, on Friday.

However, investors who bought fund products from those 18 companies suffered huge losses totaling 154.83 billion yuan (22.77 billion U.S. dollars) in the period due to sharp falls on the Chinese stock markets, it said.

China’s Shanghai Composite Index lost 26.82 percent in the first half this year, sending many of 250 open-ended funds issued by those 18 fund companies below their 1-yuan face value per share.

Ren Tong, a fund analyst at Essence Securities, said those major fund companies made profits from an increase in management fees charged on fund investors.

Investors increased their holdings of such equity funds by 8.233 billion shares in the first half, which also boosted management fee incomes for fund managers, Ren said.

Investors usually have to pay a fixed management rate of 1.5 percent to fund companies on the funds they bought. Other commissions charged on investors include subscription fees and redemption fees.

The 18 major fund companies earned a total of 5 billion yuan (735.3 million U.S. dollars) of management fees in the first six months, according to the WIND’s figures.

A report released by the Chinalion Securities in July said China’s fund sector, consisting of 652 mutual funds and 60 fund companies, lost a combined 351.4 billion yuan (51.67 billion U.S. dollars) in the second quarter compared with a combined loss of 668.8 billion yuan in the first quarter.

learn Chinese – China backs fight against Somali piracy in light of international law

hsknet2net — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 06:09:30 +0000

China on Wednesday voiced its support to the efforts to counter Somali piracy in accordance with the international law and the relevant Security Council resolutions.

The statement came as Li Baodong, the Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations, was taking the floor at an open Security Council meeting on piracy off the Somali coast. The 15-nation Council began the meeting on Wednesday morning to discuss a report by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on how to prosecute and imprison Somali pirates.

“China supports the activities carried out to combat Somali piracy in accordance with the international law and the resolutions of the Security Council,” Li said. “At present, naval operations of the countries concerned to combat piracy and to protect navigation have played a very positive role in safeguarding the safety of international navigation.”

“At the same time, the issue of how to prosecute the pirates caught has come to the fore,” he said. “China supports strengthening international cooperation in prosecuting the Somali pirates under the framework of the existing international law, and appreciates the work carried out by the countries concerned, particularly coastal states.”

“We also call upon international community to provide the necessary support to the coastal states to enhance their legal capacity, and China welcomes their report in this regard and will join others to further study the legal framework,” he said.

“Recently, although pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia have continued, threatening the safety of international navigation, their success rate has started to decline, reflecting the initial success of counter-piracy international cooperation,” he said.

“However, at the same time, the root causes that give rise to the piracy off the coast of Somalia have not been eradicated, and these pirates remain and their behavior is starting to change with elaborate organization and more covert methods of attack, and they have expanded their scope of operations into the Indian Ocean,” he said. “This has shown that the task for combating piracy is still very arduous, and it calls for further comprehensive efforts by the international community so as to eradicate the Somali piracy both from its phenomenon and root cause.”

“Using such measures as arrests by armed forces and judicial prosecution of pirates can only ease the problem,” he said. “To solve the problem once and for all, an integrated solution should be adopted.”

“We believe the international community should make efforts in the following areas: First, the peace process in Somalia should be promoted,” he said. “With endless internal conflict in Somalia and the lack of governance, these are fundamental reasons giving rise to the phenomenon.”

“The international community should promote the dialogue among the different parties in Somalia so as to stabilize the situation and establish efficient government control so as to forestall the occurrence of the phenomenon,” he said.

Not long ago, the African Union decided to strengthen their peacekeeping force in Somalia,” he said. “This is conducive to the stabilization in Somalia, and the United Nations should continue to provide support in this respect and to explore the possibility of deploying the UN force.”

Secondly, the economic and social development of Somalia should be accelerated, he said. “The stagnant economy and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Somalia are very important causes for this rampant piracy, with the majority of the youths in Somalia unemployed and millions of people struggling for life.”

“With all of these economic and social issues in Somalia, the Somali piracy problem cannot be eradicated,” he said. “The donor countries, international organizations and non-governmental organizations should play a bigger role and to pool their resources, both human and financial, so as to improve the social and economic situation in Somalia.”

Thirdly, the regional strategy to solve the Somalia piracy issues should be formulated to eradicate the problem, he said. ” The peace process and development in Somalia should be promoted.”

“This will need the cooperation of the regional countries and the international community,” he said. “They have already started this effort. The coastal states along the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Indian Ocean have already started their cooperation. ”

“We support the formulation of the international cooperation, and such measures as the arms embargo and the freezing of assets,” he said. “We also support efforts to cut the supply of arms and funds for the Somali pirates.”