介绍:
China's job market resilient despite slowdown
New stats show China added nearly 5-million jobs in the first four months, despite the current economic slowdown.
The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security says the figure is slightly higher than the number of jobs created through the same period last year.
As of the end of March, the urban unemployment stands at just above 4-percent.
Through the first quarter, economic growth here in China dipped to 7.4 percent, the lowest level since the third quarter of 2012.
China to Allow Local Governments to Issue Bonds
Anchor:
The central government here in China is giving the green-light to a number of local governments to finance their own debt by issuing bonds.
The local governments include Shanghai, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Shenzhen, Jiangsu, Shandong, Beijing, Qingdao, Ningxia and Jiangxi.
Right now, the Finance Ministry issues bonds on behalf of local governments.
The central authorities are going to set quotas on how much these local governments can borrow on the market.
The announcment comes despite fears among certian policymakers and academics that some local authorities don't have the ability to manage their own funds.
For more on this issue, CRI's Shane Bigham spoke earlier with Benjamin Cavender, Principal at China Market Research in Shanghai.
Back anchor:
That's Benjamin Cavender, Principal at China Market Research in Shanghai, speaking with the Beijing Hour's Shane Bigham.
China lures private investment into infrastructure
China's National Development and Reform Commission has announced a list of 80 projects hoping to attract private investment to infrastructure projects.
It says the move is designed to try to inject more vitality into the economy.
The list covers projects connected to railways, roads, harbors, wind power stations and gas pipelines.
Such areas used to be off-limits for private investment.
MOC: China-Iceland FTA takes effect on July 1.
China's Ministry of Commerce has announced a China-Iceland Free Trade Agreement will take effect on July 1st.
The agreement represents China's first free trade agreement with a European country.
It covers trade and investment.
Iceland and China began negotiating the FTA in 2006, and signed the agreement last month.
A China-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement, signed after the Iceland FTA, will also come into force on July 1st.
China's first REIT fund starts trading
The first real estate investment trust here in China has begun trading on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange today.
The fund has been set up by CITIC Securities.
CITIC is the country's largest brokerage.
The fund is going to be used mainly to invest in existing commercial properties.
Japan's trade deficit narrows in April
Japan's trade deficit has narrowed through April.
The trade deficit has come in at around 8 billion US dollars, down nearly 8-percent from a year earlier.
The narrowing deficit has been triggered by the hike in the sales tax, which has dampened domestic demand and reduced the pace of imports.
Japanese imports through April are still up nearly 3.5-percent.
Exports are up over 5-percent from a year earlier, led by shipments of machinery and transport equipment.
The new figures come as the Bank of Japan wrapped up a 2-day meeting with no changes in its ultra-loose monetary policy and an upbeat assessment of the economy.
Microsoft unveiled new tablet, claiming to replace laptops
Microsoft has unveiled a larger, lighter version of its Surface Pro tablet.
The Surface Pro 3 has a 12-inch screen and weighs 800 grams, which is lighter than Apple's Macbook Air laptop.
Microsoft is hoping the new tablet will be the device consumers and companies go to when they are replacing laptops.
Panos Panay is the vice president of Microsoft's Surface computing division.
"I am sure that this is the tablet that can replace the laptop. Surface Pro 2 packs a ton of punch. It has all the performance that you need in your full laptop. We then took that product, we took that exact same performance, increased it, pushed it from the 10.6 millimeters it started at and pushed it down to 9.1 millimeters.""
The Surface, launched in late 2012 and refreshed last year, currently only makes up around 2 percent of the tablet market.
The Surface Pro 3 comes in three models, and starts from 799-US dollars.
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