IN BRIEF (Page 18)

UnionPay spreads wings in Thailand

UnionPay International, the Chinese card payment system, and the Thai Bankers Association have signed an agreement to make UnionPay the standard chip card for local banks across the Thai banking industry.

It makes Thailand the first foreign country to adopt UnionPay as its standard chip card. Banks in Thailand are required to issue all debit cards and some credit cards with chips by next year.

"The partnership with UnionPay International will modernize Thailand's financial system and help our banks improve their card services with more safety and convenient features," said Kobsak Duangdee, secretary-general of Thai Bankers Association.

Tongurai Limpiti, vice-governor of the Bank of Thailand, said the use of chip cards will be crucial in promoting digital payments, as the country moves toward more transactions being done using plastic.

Central bank injects $18.7 billion into market

The People's Bank of China injected 120 billion yuan ($18.7 billion) worth of seven-day reverse repurchase agreements, or short-term loans to commercial lenders, into the interbank market on Aug 18.

It was the largest single-day injection by the central bank since January last year, when the bank offered 150 billion yuan via 14-day reverse repos. The interest rate remained the same at 2.5 percent.

Experts speculated that tightening liquidity in the market amid intensified capital outflows has forced the bank to increase money supply and stabilize the financial market.

According to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, net sales of foreign exchange were worth 265.5 billion yuan last month, compared with a net purchase of 1.02 trillion yuan in June and 7.8 billion yuan in May.

Plane maker receives 185 orders for new jet

Xi'an Aircraft Industry Co says it has received 185 orders from domestic and foreign airlines for the Xinzhou-700, its new short-haul aircraft.

The Chinese manufacturer, part of the Aviation Industry Corp of China, said on Aug 18 that it had secured deals with 11 airlines, including Okay Airways of Beijing, Hybrid Aviation in Pakistan, and Segers Aero of South Africa.

XAC began developing the turboprop Xinzhou-700, which can carry up to 70 passengers, in 2013. The company said the jet will make its first test flight in 2017 and will be delivered to buyers in 2019.

Deal allows Namibian beef to enter fresh market

Namibian cattle farmers will be able to export their products to China after the countries signed an agreement on the trade, an official has said.

"Namibia is fortunate to be among the 10 countries allowed to export beef to this lucrative market thanks to the internationally recognized veterinary control systems in place in Namibia," Agriculture Minister John Mutorwa said.

The deal will make Namibia the first African country to export bone-in beef to China. The country exports 17,000 metric tons of meat products to South Africa a year as well as 10,000 tons to the European Union.

Pre-prepared meals exported to Africa

African countries are getting a taste of authentic food from Central China thanks to frozen ready meals from Hunan province.

More than 80,000 meals, worth a combined $101,000, have been dispatched to Kenya, the local quarantine authority said on Aug 18, making it the biggest ever export of Hunan cuisine, which is known for its spiciness, fresh aroma and deep color.

Chefs with Xincongchu Food Co cooked, packed and froze the meals to be reheated in a microwave oven. Nearly all were pre-ordered by restaurants and hotels in Kenya, although the company said it hopes to export to more African countries.

Officials said the food had passed comprehensive safety tests for heavy metals and microorganisms.

Personal investable assets to increase

Personal investable assets are expected to grow 13 percent annually to reach 196 trillion yuan ($31 trillion) in the next five years, a report said.

The number of high-net-worth families is forecast to rise 11 percent every year to 3.46 million during the same period, said the report issued by Industrial Bank Co Ltd and The Boston Consulting Group on Aug 18.

Between 2013 and 2015, China recorded annual growth of 21 percent in personal investable assets, which are expected to reach 110 trillion yuan by the end of this year.

The rapid increase in private wealth is the result of various factors, including relatively high GDP growth, the demographic dividend and the fast growth of the capital market in the past three years, the report said.

As the core regions of China's economic growth move from eastern coastal areas to inland areas, high-net-worth families will have greater potential for growth in Chongqing municipality, Sichuan and Henan provinces, and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

Lenovo plans to axe 3,200 jobs

Lenovo Group Ltd said it will lay off 3,200 employees after it announced a 51-percent year-on-year fall in net income for its first fiscal quarter which ended in June.

The cuts, which will occur mainly in the company's newly acquired Motorola Mobility unit, represent about 10 percent of its global non-manufacturing headcount.

Yang Yuanqing, chairman and chief executive of Lenovo, said poor smartphone sales and worsening global demand for personal computers necessitated the job cuts.

"We are planning to reduce expenses by about $1.35 billion for this fiscal year, including reductions of about $800 million from the Motorola unit," Yang said.

Hit by slowing PC and smartphone demand, the company's net profit dropped to $105 million in the first quarter, compared with $214 million a year ago, Lenovo said. In the PC business, which has been Lenovo's cash cow till now, pretax income fell 8 percent year-on-year despite a growth in market share.

Gold set to regain luster again

Gold demand in China fell 3 percent in the second quarter of the year to 216 metric tons on the back of slowing economic growth and lower offtake, the World Gold Council said.

In its quarterly outlook for the precious metal, the council said the prognosis for the next six months is better as demand is increasing, and more investors are keen on diversifying their investment options amid fluctuating stock markets and a weaker currency. According to the council, China's demand for gold jewelry fell 5 percent from a year ago to 174 metric tons at the end of the second quarter.

Healthy inflows likely to keep FDI robust

Foreign direct investment into China is expected to remain stable in the longer term after the nation devalued its currency to put economic growth on a firmer footing, experts said.

China's foreign direct investment rose 5.2 percent last month to 50.55 billion yuan ($7.89 billion) from the same period a year ago, a 0.7 percent growth from the previous month, the Ministry of Commerce said. FDI in China grew 7.9 percent year-on-year to 471.1 billion yuan between January and July.

Huang Feng, deputy director-general of the Ministry of Commerce's department of foreign investment administration, said investment from major countries and regions including the United States, the European Union and Hong Kong, during the first seven months.

FDI into the manufacturing sector waned in the first seven months, whereas it rose in the services sector.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 08/21/2015 page18)