[unable to retrieve full-text content]China has agreed to three huge liquefied natural gas (LNG) deals with US exporter Venture Global LNG as the world’s second-biggest economy looks to secure long-term supplies amid soaring gas prices and domestic power shortages.According to documents posted on the US department of energy website, the agreements with China’s state oil giant Sinopec include two 20-year deals for a combined 4 million tonnes of LNG per year.Those deals bring Venture Global’s plant in Plaquemines, Louisiana, with an…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]China’s coal shortage is likely to ease in coming months, with domestic production and imports already showing signs of picking up, a coal industry association said on Sunday, amid government efforts to tackle tight supply.The Chinese government initiated a raft of measures to boost coal supplies in recent months as it sought to address a coal shortage which has contributed to a nationwide power crunch and disrupted production in various industries.There are signs those efforts are starting to…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Australia is not shut to Chinese investors but national security concerns and the protection of critical infrastructure are now key factors determining deal approvals, the head of its Foreign Investment and Review Board (FIRB) said on Thursday.Chinese investment in Australia has fallen by over 50 per cent to about A$12 billion (US$8.8 billion) over the past four years, driven by stricter capital controls by Beijing, and by a deterioration of the relationship between the countries.“We run a non…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]G7 finance officials on Wednesday endorsed 13 public policy principles for retail central bank digital currencies, saying they should be grounded in transparency, the rule of law and sound economic governance, the US Treasury Department said.“Innovation in digital money and payments has the potential to bring significant benefits but also raises considerable public policy and regulatory issues,” Group of 7 (G7) finance ministers and central bankers said in a joint statement.“Strong…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Chinese officials ordered more than 70 mines in Inner Mongolia to ramp up coal production by nearly 100 million tonnes as the country battles its worst power crunch and coal shortages in years.The move is the latest attempt by Chinese authorities to boost coal supply amid record-high prices and shortages of electricity that have led to power rationing across the country, crippling industrial output.The proposed increase would make up nearly 3 per cent of China’s total thermal coal consumption…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Activity in China’s services sector returned to growth in September as a major coronavirus outbreak in the eastern province of Jiangsu receded, a private-sector survey showed on Friday, offering some support to a slowing economy.The Caixin/Markit services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to 53.4 from 46.7 in August, pulling away from the lowest level seen since the height of the pandemic last year. The 50-point mark separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis.The better readings…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]As Australian beef exports to China wither amid diplomatic tensions, demand for US grain-fed beef has soared, fuelled by the appetites of a growing Chinese middle class.Hotpot restaurants, Japanese barbecue chains and steakhouses – all expanding in the world’s No 2 economy – are swapping out for US beef, with several Australian suppliers banned since last year and shipments from others taking too long to clear customs.Beef imports from the US have grown to 83,000 tonnes in the first eight…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Taiwan may benefit from orders being shifted to the island if China’s power curbs disrupt the country’s exports, Taiwan central bank governor Yang Chin-long said on Thursday.The world’s second-largest economy is grappling with power cuts and electricity rationing after a collision of tight coal supplies, tougher emissions standards and strong manufacturing demand has pushed the price of coal, the biggest source of China’s electricity, to eye-watering records.Yang, taking lawmaker questions in…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]China’s “golden week” holiday this year is unlikely to see domestic travel rebound to pre-Covid levels, industry estimates show, hurt by uncertainty over pandemic curbs and consumer fears about the health of the economy.The seven-day holiday from October 1 to mark the founding of modern China is traditionally one of its busiest times for travel and is closely watched as a barometer of consumer demand in the world’s second-largest economy.Chinese travel booking site LY.com said it is expecting…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]As part of a sweeping push to curb speculation, China’s regulators are tightening control over the inner workings of its currency market, pressuring banks to trade less and in smaller ranges, two banking sources told Reuters.The moves follow recent attempts to curtail financial risks, such as by dampening commodity price rises, banning cryptocurrency transactions and restricting property speculation. They also bring the campaign deeper into day-to-day operations on the trading desks of a US$30…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) can slash the time needed for cross border payments to seconds from days and cut costs, the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) said, citing a pilot scheme to test the digital forms of fiat currencies.The trial showed cross border transactions could be made in a few seconds, instead of three to five days, as CBDCs help skirt complicated arrangements under which payments are passed via a network of banks, the BIS said in a report on Tuesday.CBDCs also…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Profits at China’s industrial firms grew at a weaker pace in August from a year earlier, slowing for a sixth consecutive month, as manufacturers struggled with high commodity prices, the coronavirus and shortages in some key components.Profits rose 10.1 per cent year on year to 680.3 billion yuan (US$105 billion) last month compared with a 16.4 per cent gain in July, data from China’s statistics bureau showed on Tuesday.Momentum in the world’s second-biggest economy has weakened in recent…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]China lambasted a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling in a row with the United States over Washington’s measures to limit the import of solar panel cells, calling it “erroneous and dangerous” on Monday.A WTO panel handed a victory to the US earlier this month, rejecting all four of China’s claims and saying the measures did not breach global trade rules. China said last week it would appeal the decision.At the private meeting, China’s delegate expressed “deep concern with the systematically…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]China’s C919 aircraft – a no-show at the country’s biggest air show this week – has found it harder to meet certification and production targets amid tough US export rules, according to three people with knowledge of the programme.The state-owned manufacturer, Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac), has been unable to get timely help from suppliers and has run out of some spare parts, those people said.As of December, the United States has required special licences to export parts and…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]China is snapping up cargoes of Australian wheat despite a bitter trade stand-off between the two countries, as crop downgrades elsewhere lead to a global shortfall in output.The buying spree comes as Australia, a key global food supplier, is expecting a second consecutive bumper harvest, while Northern Hemisphere producers have been hit by adverse weather and drought.China, the world’s top importer of agricultural products, has imposed anti-dumping duties on Australian wine and barley and…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Thursday the Biden administration will take further action against Chinese telecoms firm Huawei Technologies if necessary, after some Republican lawmakers pressed for more steps.Washington says Huawei is a national security threat on a variety of grounds and has aggressively lobbied other countries not to use Huawei equipment in next-generation 5G networks.Citing Huawei’s ties to the Chinese government and military, Washington says this makes the…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Boeing raised its forecast slightly on Thursday for China’s aircraft demand for the next 20 years, betting on the country’s quick rebound from the coronavirus and future growth in its budget airline sector and e-commerce.Chinese airlines will need 8,700 new planes through 2040, 1.2 per cent higher than its previous prediction of 8,600 planes made last year.Those planes would be worth US$1.47 trillion based on list prices, the US plane maker said in a statement.The 1.2 per cent increase…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Weeks before the World Bank scrapped its flagship Doing Business rankings following a damning independent probe, a group of external advisers recommended an overhaul of the rankings to limit countries’ efforts to “manipulate their scores”.An 84-page review, written by senior academics and economists, was published on the bank’s website on Monday, about three weeks after it was submitted to World Bank chief economist Carmen Reinhart.The World Bank on Thursday said it would cancel the “Doing…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]China’s first C919 narrow-body aircraft to be delivered to launch customer China Eastern Airlines is about to enter final assembly, China’s aviation regulator said on Monday, with delivery due before the end of the year.The C919, being built by state-owned planemaker Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC), will mark a milestone in a decade-long programme to rival aircraft made by Airbus and Boeing.The C919 programme’s certification board met in Shanghai on Friday and reviewed COMAC reports…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]China’s factory activity slipped into contraction in August for the first time in nearly one and a half years as coronavirus containment measures, supply bottlenecks and high raw material prices weighed on output in a blow to the economy.The slowdown in the manufacturing sector underscores the fragility of the ongoing economic recovery and the impact of strict coronavirus curbs in the country, backing expectations Beijing will roll out more support measures to revitalise growth.The Caixin…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Earnings at China’s industrial firms in July slowed for the fifth straight month, adding to growing evidence of a loss of momentum in the world’s second-biggest economy and bolstering the case for maintaining policy support for a while longer.Elevated raw material prices and supply chain constraints from extreme weather as well as sporadic coronavirus cases dragged on earnings in the manufacturing sector, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Friday.Industrial firms’…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Asia’s robust economic recovery from last year’s coronavirus low is losing momentum as a surge in Covid-19 cases sees shops empty again and factories close, dimming prospects for corporate profit growth after a blockbuster half year.The rapid spread of the highly infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus and low vaccination rates have caught much of the region off guard, especially in emerging markets, even as economies in Europe and North America reopen.“It’s clear that economies across the…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]China plans to set up a state pension company with registered capital of 11.15 billion yuan (US$1.72 billion), a filing showed on Thursday, the latest step by the world’s most populous nation to boost funds for its citizens’ retirement.China is wooing booth public and private sector involvement as it tweaks its US$1.2 trillion pension system for a rapidly ageing population faced with the prospect of underfunding.Seventeen bank-affiliated wealth management units, insurers and state institutions…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]China’s central bank injected billions of yuan through medium-term loans into the financial system on Monday, while keeping the interest rate unchanged for the 16th month in a row.The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) kept the rate on 600 billion yuan (US$92.6 billion) worth of one-year medium-term lending facility (MLF) loan to some financial institutions steady at 2.95 per cent from previous operations.The central bank said the loan operation was meant to “fully meet financial institutions’…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]A Boeing 737 MAX test plane took to the skies in China on Wednesday as the US manufacturer looks to end a nearly two-and-a-half-year regulatory grounding of the model in the key travel market.Flight-tracking website Flightradar24 showed a 737 MAX 7 test plane taking off from Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport at 9.24am, with no destination listed, flying in a south-easterly direction.The flight tracking was incomplete, but photos on Chinese aviation blogs showed it landed at Zhoushan…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]China’s efforts to be seen as a responsible investor overseas are at risk from high rates of human rights abuses linked to its business operations, especially in the metals and mining sector, a report released on Wednesday found.The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, a global non-governmental organisation (NGO), logged 679 charges of human rights abuse against Chinese companies operating abroad between 2013 and 2020.Metals and mining drew the most allegations – 236, or 35 per cent of the…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]China said it will release reserves of commodities “essential for livelihood” in a timely and targeted manner, the state planner said on Friday, after floods hit some regions and amid a resurgence of coronavirus infections in the country.The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said it will strengthen control and prevention of African swine fever disease in its pig herds after the flooding and would ensure supplies of essential produce from the impact of the floods and the…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]A Boeing 737 MAX jet departed the United States for China on Wednesday to conduct a flight test as part of efforts to gain approval in the vital travel market following two fatal crashes, people familiar with the matter said.Flight-tracking site FlightRadar24 showed a 737 MAX 7 test plane taking off from Boeing Field near Seattle at 8.17am local time. It landed in John Rodgers Field outside Honolulu nearly 5.5 hours later to complete the first leg of its trip across the Pacific.Boeing and China…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Growth in China’s services sector accelerated in July, a private survey showed on Wednesday, although the spread of the Delta variant across the country threatens to undercut the recovery in the world’s second-biggest economy.The Caixin/Markit services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to 54.9 in July, the highest since May and up from 50.3 the previous month. The 50-point mark separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis.The better readings in the private survey, which focuses more…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]China’s government quietly issued new procurement guidelines in May that require up to 100% local content on hundreds of items including X-ray machines and magnetic resonance imaging equipment, erecting fresh barriers for foreign suppliers, three US-based sources told Reuters.Document 551 was issued on May 14 by the Chinese Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, with the title, “Auditing guidelines for government procurement of imported products,” said one…