TMCnet News
What's news [China Daily: Hong Kong Edition](China Daily: Hong Kong Edition Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) UK taps lenders for RMB bond issue The UK government has selected three lenders to sell its first yuan-denominated bonds as it seeks to develop Europe's offshore trading center for the currency. Bank of China Ltd, HSBC Holdings Plc and Standard Chartered Plc will organize the benchmark-sized sale of securities and hold an investor presentation on Oct 13 in London, the Treasury said in an e-mailed statement on Thursday. Proceeds from the offering, the world's first non-Chinese sovereign bond in yuan, will be used to finance the UK's foreign-exchange reserves. Prime Minister David Cameron, who met with President Xi Jinping in the Netherlands in March, is looking to boost trade with emerging-market economies and build on London's capacity as an international financial hub. HK shares firm up on stimulus hopes Share prices firmed up in Hong Kong on Thursday, the most in two weeks, after Premier Li Keqiang said the government would use targeted measures to support the economy. Hong Kong's Hang Seng China Enterprises Index climbed 0.9 percent to 10,483.50 at the close, while the Hang Seng Index added 1.2 percent. Stocks also rose after the Federal Reserve hinted that interest rates will stay near zero. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.3 percent to 2,389.37 at the close for an eighth straight day of gains. The CSI 300 Index advanced 0.1 percent. Repo rates decline as cash pile swells The benchmark money-market rate in China fell after the cash supply rose following a weeklong holiday. Some 28 billion yuan ($4.6 billion) of repurchase agreements matured during the National Day holidays that ended on Tuesday, plus a further 18 billion yuan on Thursday, adding funds to the system. The People's Bank of China sold 20 billion yuan of 14-day repo agreements at 3.5 percent on Thursday, according to a statement on its website. The seven-day repo rate, a gauge of interbank funding availability, fell four basis points, or 0.04 percentage point, to 3.05 percent, according to the daily fixing released by the National Interbank Funding Center in Shanghai. The rate has dropped 80 basis points since the end of June. Foreign investment moves gather speed China has outlined plans to allow citizens to invest in overseas stocks and property as well as let the nation's companies sell yuan-denominated shares abroad, furthering efforts to internationalize its currency. Chinese nationals will be able to buy equities and real estate via a Qualified Domestic Retail Investor scheme, Wang Dan, a deputy director-general at the central bank, said on Thursday at a conference in Beijing. Efforts are also on to give locals access to yuan capital markets in Singapore and London, she said, without giving any start dates or sizes for the programs. Yuan climbs after greenback retreats The yuan traded in Hong Kong climbed to the strongest level in four weeks as China's central bank boosted the currency's reference rate amid a dollar retreat. The People's Bank of China raised the daily fixing by 0.05 percent to 6.1461 versus the greenback, the strongest since Sept 19. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell for a fourth day as minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting highlighted risks to the US economic outlook. Junk bond sales to boost Reg-S issue Investors can sell Chinese junk-rated bonds to make room in their portfolios for additional Tier 1 bank capital securities from the world's second-largest economy, according to a survey of money managers by Morgan Stanley. Bank of China Ltd hired nine banks for its Basel III - compliant Reg S issue, which will count as additional Tier 1 capital, and plans to meet with investors in Asia and Europe from Friday, people familiar with the matter said. The meetings are expected to finish on Oct 14, and the sale could happen as early as next week, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. Reg S transactions cannot be marketed or sold to investors in the US. Coal import tariffs to support miners China, the world's biggest coal consumer and producer, will reintroduce import tariffs on the fuel in the government's latest effort to support money-losing domestic mining firms. The Finance Ministry will impose a levy of as much as 6 percent on coal, including 3 percent on anthracite and coking coal, starting on Oct 15, according to a statement published on its website on Thursday. Similar tariffs were suspended in 2007, while a tax on brown coal was resumed in August 2013. Uganda seeks funds for rail expansion Uganda will begin a fund raising drive in China in the first quarter of next year for a planned standard-gauge railway network in East Africa, the Finance Ministry said. The investor meetings will follow a presentation in December of a report by the Africa50 Infrastructure Fund, which was contracted by the government to draw up a financial plan for the project, Patrick Ocailap, deputy secretary to the Ugandan Treasury, said on Tuesday in an interview in the capital, Kampala. Africa50, a unit of the African Development Bank, helps find private investors to accelerate infrastructure projects. New iPhones to be available on Tmall Apple Inc's official store on Alibaba's Tmall marketplace will start the presale of the highly anticipated iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus online on Friday. According to a press release from Tmall, the largest business-to-customer online marketplace in China, the presale will only last for 24 hours, and some of the buyers, who place their orders on Tmall, will even get their brand-new smartphones delivered before Oct 17, the official launch date for the latest iPhones in China. Apple's Tmall Store said that all buyers need to complete the payment procedures within 15 minutes of placing the orders online. Sweet rewards for African sugar plant A Chinese sugar plant in Madagascar has been lauded for its role in the country's development. Rolland Ravatomanga, the Malagasy minister of agriculture, said: "I congratulate the China State Development and Investment Corporation COMPLANT Group for its commitment in supporting Madagascar's development." Zhou Jianping, the general administrator of the Chinese sugar plant SUCOMA said: "SUCOMA is involved in urban development and has also improved its exploitation process by dredging channels, which serve not only sugar but also crop farmers who cultivate rice and other crops." Foxconn resolves labor dispute Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer, said on Thursday it had resolved a strike by about 1,000 workers at one of its factories in China, and that production from the plant was unaffected. Hon Hai, also known by its trading name Foxconn Technology Group, said the workers at its Chongqing factory had gone on strike on Wednesday, and agreed to return to work four hours later after discussions with the company. In its statement, the company did not give any details about the discussions or why the workers had gone on strike. Hon Hai also did not give details about the product lines at the plant. Grain purchases stabilize prices A grain glut has forced the Chinese government to buy up some 30 million metric tons of wheat and early rice since late May this year, despite climbing inventories, according to the China Grain Reserve Corp (Sinograin) on Thursday. The government intervention, conducted by Sinograin under a minimum grain purchase price arrangement, aims to stabilize market prices and protect farmers' interests during good years, Sinograin said in a statement. To support the market, Sinograin has bought 25.35 million tons of wheat, three times the amount last year, from the provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong, Henan and Hubei since May 27 to fill national reserves. China Daily - Agencies Cycling ahead A bicycle made of carbon fiber that weighs just 4.65 kilograms is displayed at the Asia Bike Trade Show 2014 in Nanjing on Thursday. Nearly 500 brands of cycles, including hi-tech and urban bikes, spare parts and cycling jerseys, are part of the show. Sun Can / Xinhua (China Daily 10/10/2014 page14) (c) 2014 China Daily Information Company. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info). |