介绍:
RMB well set after forex adjustment: PBOC
A central bank official says the Chinese currency should remain strong over the long run.
Zhang Xiaohui, assistant governor of the People's Bank of China, says the value of the yuan has gradually returned to market levels as the discrepancy between the central parity rate and the actual trading rate has been corrected after declines in the past few days.
Zhang says there used to be a 3-percent gap accumulated between the official rate and market expectations.
The central parity rate of the yuan dropped 1.1 percent, to 6.4 against the U.S. dollar, on Thursday, narrowing from losses recorded over the previous two days.
The currency's fall comes after the PBOC adjusted the exchange rate formation mechanism on Tuesday, a move designed to better reflect market development in the exchange rate of the yuan against the U.S. dollar.
Ma Jun, Chief economist at the research bureau of the People's Bank of China, believes China's economic fundamentals can support a stable RMB.
"The effect of our macro control measures has shown positive signs: the investment on infrastructure is accelerating, property sales are increasing… all these indicate that our economy is stabilizing and picking up. The growth is much stronger than some other economic entities that faces a higher pressure on devaluation."
Another senior official, Yi Gang, dismissed media reports that Chinese authorities had demanded a 10-percent depreciation in the yuan by the end of the year in hopes of rescuing the country's slipping exports, describing such reports as "completely baseless."
Yi added the value of Yuan is determined by the market. The bank cannot intervene with this, but focuses more on improving the exchange rate formation mechanism.
China urges reform of government-linked trade associations
China has called for a pilot program to give more independence to trade associations.
According to a circular jointly issued by the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) and the National Development and Reform Commission, all operational, financial and personnel affiliations between the government and trade associations should be severed.
Trade associations traditionally have had close relations with the government. Some are run by retired government officials, who act more like semi-government regulators rather than organizers and leaders of industry.
The pilot program will start in the latter half of this year and expand to more trade associations in the following two years.
Gold demand plunges to 6-year low as Asian buyers retreat
CNBC reports global gold demand slumped to a six-year low in the second quarter.
The report attributes the slump to consumers in China and India continuing to pull back on purchases of gold jewelry, coins, and bars.
World Gold Council's latest report shows overall demand totaled 915 tonnes, a 12 percent decline from the same period last year.
In China, slowing economic growth and severe fluctuations in the domestic stock market soured appetites.
Meanwhile, in India demand was impeded by unfavorable weather conditions – which hit rural incomes – as well as a dearth of auspicious days for marriages in the third quarter.
Xiaomi releases new Redmi note, MIUI 7
China's top smartphone maker Xiaomi has announced a new Redmi Note smartphone, an improved operating system for its smart devices, and a new super mini router.
The new redmi 2 promises users improved video quality. It can act as a remote control for televisions and air-conditioning and has a specialized night screen.
Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun.
" We also support the night screen. If at night, you adjust the brightness to the lowest setting it will still be very bright. We have adjusted the brightness setting so when you read at night, it will not hurt your eyes."
The new operating system includes several new features including reduced battery consumption, specialized themes and a new baby and pet album feature.
Lei says it uses face recognition to store all pet pictures and baby pictures into specialized albums that can be viewed on multiple devices by family members.
"After we took a lot of pictures we realized it was really difficult to share these photos with relatives. We use face recognition to find all the photos of your babies and put them into the baby album so your family can see. You can also set the album to your lock screen so you can see the baby pictures every time you use your phone."
Xiaomi's new operating system is available to download for free from Friday, August 14th. The Redmi note 2 will be available from August 16th at a starting price of 799 yuan.
Xiaomi's new super mini home router, which boasts adequate capabilities despite being smaller than its competitors, will also be available from August 16th for 79 yuan.
Lenovo sees 51% fall in profit, to slash 5% global jobs
Personal computer and smartphone maker Lenovo group posted a 51 percent drop year on year in net profit in the financial quarter ending June 30.
The group's revenue increased by 3 percent to nearly 11 billion US dollar, its net profit fell to 102 million US dollars.
To reduce costs and improve profitability, the company announced that it will cut 5 percent of its non-manufacturing jobs or 3,200 jobs globally.
Personal computers are the core business of Lenovo.
Its smartphone business faces major restructuring after acquiring Motorola from Google.
American Express and CITIC Bank launch credit card for travelers to U.S.
American Express and China CITIC Bank have launched the CITIC American Express Platinum Card for business people, tourists and overseas students traveling to the United States.
The card offers a range of exclusive benefits and services to customers, including free foreign exchange transactions and bumper reward points on overseas spending.
In addition, card members will have access to China CITIC Bank's U.S. visa application service and American Express' exclusive international education service.
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, more than 1.8 million Chinese tourists visited the country last year.
The department forecasts the figure will triple in 2021.
Migang.com rolls out increased P2P lending security for customers
A Chinese peer to peer lending company and an insurance firm have formed a strategic partnership to provide online security for customers.
Investors purchasing wealth management products on Migang.com will have their policies underwritten by Tianan Property Insurance.
Risk control has been a challenge for the P2P sector.
P2P is the practice of lending money between individuals through an internet platform, without going through traditional financial institutions such as banks.
The transaction volume of the Chinese P2P sector is expected to be between 800 billion yuan and 1 trillion yuan this year.
