介绍:
China to switch to VAT on Telecommunications sector
China will trial a switch-over from business taxation to value-added taxation on telecommunication service providers.
The announcement was made by Premier Li Keqiang at the annual meeting of the country's top legislature.
The trial comes as part of a package of reforms aimed at state-owned enterprises such as China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile.
Whilst details of the tax level have been withheld, analysts believe that the trial rate will be set at around 11 percent.
The trial is expected to start during the first half of this year.
Consumers are expected to benefit from the reform, with carriers likely to offer more free or discounted handsets with service contracts.
However, the VAT implementation is expected to hit carrier profitability, especially at a time when the big three are investing heavily in 4g technology.
During afternoon trading, shares in the world's largest mobile network China Mobile slid by 0.34 percentage points in mainland trading.
In Hong Kong trading, the dip was at 0.31 percent following the announcement.
How effective can private investment in SOEs help them clean up their act?
Anchor:
Following on the heels of the partial privatization of a Sinopec subsidiary this past month, there has been a growing amount of discussion about how far the government is going to take this country's State Owned Enterprises toward the private sector.
In recent weeks, local governments around China have announced plans to seek more strategic private investments to boost the performance of their SOE's.
This comes as the central authorities looks to make this country's often-bloated state-run firms more streamlined and efficient.
For more on this issue, CRI's Paul James spoke to Benjamin Cavender, Associate Principal at China Market Research in Shanghai.
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That was CRI's Paul James speaking to Benjamin Cavender, Associate Principal at China Market Research in Shanghai.
International Finance Corporation issues 1 billion yuan of RMB denominated bonds in London
International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, issued an RMB-denominated bond worth 1 billion yuan , some 162 million U.S. dollars on Tuesday in London.
The move will further support the internationalization of the Chinese currency and is the first benchmark-sized RMB bond on the London Stock Exchange by a multilateral institution.
The three-year bond with a 2-percent yield drew a wide spread of institutional investors, of which commercial banks took up 34 percent while central banks accounted for 31 percent of the demand.
Elsewhere, 26 percent was purchased by fund managers and 9 percent by corporations.
In terms of geographic distribution, 46 percent of investors were in the Asia Pacific region, with 39 percent of investors from the Americas and Europe.
Meanwhile, the Middle East and North Africa made up 15 percent of investors.
George Osborne, chancellor of the exchequer of Britain, noted in a statement, that nearly two thirds of all RMB activity outside of greater China takes place in London.
He adds that the IFC's move further propels London into the spotlight as the West's RMB central trading hub.
In a speech in Hong Kong last week, Osborne said British and Chinese governments are "in active discussions" about the appointment of an RMB clearing bank in London.
US moves towards concluding Trans-Pacific Partnership
The United States has announced that it plans to conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations in 2014.
The agenda set by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has opened up the possibility of further countries joining.
Significant progress is also expected to be made with the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement, launched in June last year by President Barack Obama and EU leaders.
Along with the United States, TPP participants now include Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
A successful TPP agreement is expected to boost global income by an estimated 223 billion U.S. dollars per year, by 2025, while potentially expanding annual U.S. exports by 124 billion dollars.
Singapore boots out Tokyo as world's priciest city for expats - EIU
Singapore is now said to be outstripping Tokyo as the world's most expensive city for expats.
An annual survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit is suggesting the strong Singaporean dollar, the high price of utilities and the cost of car ownership in the city-state are the major factors in driving up the cost-of-living for expats in Singapore.
As part of the annual rankings, Paris has risen six places to become the world's second-most expensive city.
After Singapore and Paris, the 10 cities with the highest cost of living in descending order are Oslo, Zurich, Sydney, Caracas, Geneva, Melbourne, Tokyo and Copenhagen.
Here in China, Hong Kong has come in 13th on the list.
Of the 131 cities analyzed in the EIU report, Shanghai has come in at 21st, 5-spots more expensive than New York.
Beijing ranks 47th.
Mumbai was the least expensive major city for expats to live in, followed by Karachi, New Delhi and Damascus.
Facebook in talks to acquire drone maker
Facebook is in talks to acquire Titan Aerospace, a drone maker, for $60 million.
The drone technology will give the world's number 1 Internet social network the power to beam wireless internet access to consumers in under-developed parts of the world.
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