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Shanghai to aid Pudong New Area development

The municipal government of Shanghai has approved legislative measures to support Pudong New Area's further reform and opening up, and to achieve the goal of 2 trillion yuan ($290.9 billion) gross domestic product in 2025, Pudong's 35th anniversary of opening-up, official sources said on Thursday. According to the decision by the city people's congress standing committee, the legislative body will draft and make adjustments to local regulations in accordance with Pudong's development requirements, so as to make sure the area becomes a leader in the nation's high quality development.

Global internet expo opens in Qingdao

The 2019 World Internet and Industry Conference opened on Thursday in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, offering a glimpse into the latest trends in industrial internet that are helping to promote manufacturing transformation and upgrading in China. The event will serve as a platform for participants to share innovative ideas, deepen cooperation and showcase the latest achievements in the field of industrial internet. A wide range of forums will be held during the conference, including topics related to 5G, artificial intelligence, smart manufacturing, smart city and industrial internet sectors. Leading experts and entrepreneurs from home and abroad are attending the event, which was organized by Qingdao municipal government and guided by the Ministry of Industry and Information technology and the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

China Exim Bank sees steady growth in assets

The Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim Bank) on Wednesday announced a steady growth in assets and net profits last year in its annual report. By the end of 2018, the total assets of the bank grew 15.19 percent year-on-year to 4.2 trillion yuan ($610 billion), while its liabilities went up 16.37 percent to 3.89 trillion yuan. In 2018, the bank earned a net profit of 4.62 billion yuan, and its outstanding loans amounted to 3.38 trillion yuan, 17.32 percent higher compared with the year before, according to the report. The bank has adopted targeted measures and policies to provide funds in the country's foreign trade last year, said Hu Xiaolian, chairman of China Exim Bank.

Ford sees 86% slump in quarterly income

US automaker Ford on Wednesday reported net income of $148 million for the second quarter of 2019, 86 percent lower than the same period last year. Ford said the sharp slide was a result of "ongoing global redesign and restructuring activities".Those initiatives accounted for $1.2 billion of charges. But Ford vowed to "continue to bring to market a fresh lineup of compelling products that build on well-established strengths".

Boeing posts loss of $3b in second quarter

US aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co on Wednesday posted a loss of $3 billion in earnings for the second quarter of 2019 as a result of the global grounding of 737 MAX airplanes. Boeing said its quarterly revenue nosedived by 35 percent to reach $15.8 billion, compared to $24 billion in the same period of last year, as its best-selling 737 MAX jets remained grounded globally since mid-March this year over the two deadly crashes that killed 346 people in Indonesia and Ethiopia.

Freight volume rises in German ports

Container and other cargo vessels carried around 300 million metric tons of goods via German sea ports in 2018, the Federal Statistical Office announced on Wednesday. Compared to the previous year, maritime transport in Germany increased by 1.6 percent and has transported "approximately 61 times" as much cargo as air transport, according to Destatis. The German statistical office noted that the German government believed that the danger to ships in international waters from pirate attacks had been "declining for years".

S. Korea's foreign currency trading rises

South Korea's foreign currency trading rose in the second quarter on an increased volatility in the foreign exchange market, central bank data showed on Thursday. The daily foreign currency transactions in the interbank market averaged $57.63 billion in the April-June quarter, up 4.9 percent, or $2.67 billion, from the previous quarter, according to the Bank of Korea. It marked the biggest foreign currency trading, except the record high of $57.65 billion in the second quarter of last year. The increased volatility in the foreign exchange market, caused by concerns over global trade disputes, led traders to hedge currency risks through the FX derivatives products.

China Daily - Agencies

(China Daily Global 07/26/2019 page9)