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GOVT AND POLICIES

Overseas revenue of gaming firms rise

China's gaming industry has reported huge export potential with its overseas revenue set to top $11 billion in 2019, according to an industry report forecast. The estimated amount, surging from $9.59 billion in 2018, grew a hundredfold from a decade ago, according to a report jointly released by research institute CNG and global games and esports analytics provider Newzoo. Sales revenue of self-developed online games in the overseas market rose by 23.7 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2019, according to an earlier CNG report. China has become the world's second-largest game exporter, following the United States.

Chemical fiber sector sees higher shipments

China saw faster growth in exports of chemical fibers, industrial data showed. A total of 3.61 million metric tons of chemical fibers were exported in the first nine months of this year, up 8.99 percent year-on-year, according to the China Chemical Fibers Association. The growth rate was 1.21 percentage points higher than the whole year's expansion pace of 2018.

COMPANIES AND MARKETS

Insurance firms report strong profit growth

The insurance sector posted strong profit growth in the first three quarters due to improved operations and government tax reductions, Shanghai Securities News reported. During the January-September period, the industry's net profit neared 280 billion yuan ($40 billion), up 122.7 percent from the same period last year. Net profit from life insurance companies came in at 230 billion yuan, up 114.8 percent, while that from property insurers surged 167.3 percent to 50 billion yuan, according to the report. Small and micro insurers reported solid growth. Their market share stood at 7.31 percent in the first nine months, up 2 percentage points from the same period last year.

Alipay teams up with Cambodia's DaraPay

Alipay, the world's largest online and mobile payment platform, has partnered with Cambodia's DaraPay, allowing customers to use their Alipay wallets to pay at DaraPay's POS payment system across Cambodia, DaraPay's general manager Phok Ratha said on Monday. "With this partnership, Chinese tourists can scan and pay with their Alipay app at all DaraPay merchants with more than 3,000 outlets in capital Phnom Penh and in Kandal, Kampong Cham, Siem Reap and Battambang provinces," he said. Alipay serves over 1.2 billion users together with its regional partners and is the preferred payment method of Chinese tourists, according to a joint statement.

Bilibili posts healthy quarterly earnings

Chinese online video sharing and entertainment service Bilibili Inc reported 72-percent revenue growth in the third quarter of 2019 on the back of a strong rise in user numbers. Total net revenue reached around 1.86 billion yuan ($260 million) in the third quarter, exceeding the market expectation significantly, the Nasdaq-listed company announced on Tuesday in its unaudited financial report. Gross profit during the period was 351.3 million yuan, an increase of 80 percent from the previous year. Bilibili's average monthly active users in the Q3 reached 128 million, with 114 million active mobile users. The two numbers were up 38 percent and 43 percent year-on-year, respectively.

GM launches new sedan to boost sales

General Motors on Monday launched luxury mid-size sedan Cadillac CT5 in China, in its latest effort to reverse sales downturn in the world's largest car market. "The CT5 is joining the CT6 and upcoming CT4 to create a new American luxury rear-wheel-drive sedan family for car buyers across China," the leading US carmaker said in a news release. GM's joint ventures delivered 689,531 vehicles in China in the third quarter of 2019, down 17.5 percent year-on-year. GM sales in China continued to decline as the vehicle market there remained sluggish after a weak 2018.

AROUND THE WORLD

Israel GDP up by 4.1% in third quarter

Israel's gross domestic product increased by 4.1 percent on an annualized basis in the third quarter of 2019, according to a report released by the state's Central Bureau of Statistics. This is a relatively high increase in Israel's growth pace, after a moderate 0.8-percent rise in the second quarter. The data showed an increase of 2.8 percent in private consumption in the third quarter, or a slight 0.8-percent increase in private consumption per capita, compared with a decrease of 2.5 percent in the second quarter. The Israeli GDP per capita rose by 2.1 percent in the third quarter, after a 0.9-percent decline in April-June period.

German economy on steady track to recovery

Gross domestic product in Germany increased by 0.1 percent in the third quarter compared to the previous quarter, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced. "The German economy seems to have come through the summer better than expected," said Claus Michelsen, head of the forecasting and economic department at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW). Positive contributions to German GDP in the third quarter had mainly come from consumption as both private households as well as government increased their expenditures, according to Destatis.

Sri Lanka's prosperity index goes up by 42%

Sri Lanka's Prosperity Index saw a 42 percent rise from 2017 to 2018, local media reports quoting the Central Bank said. According to information issued by the country's Statistics Department, Sri Lanka's Prosperity Index grew from 0.548 in 2017 to 0.783 in 2018 with subindices in "Economy and Business Climate", "Well-being of the People" and "Socio-Economic Infrastructure", all seeing healthy increases across most of the island's provinces. The Western Province, which hosts capital Colombo, registered the highest scores in all three subindices. Meanwhile, the Sabaragamuwa Province registered the highest overall increase in the index as well as the highest increase in the "Well-being of the People" sub index.

Natural gas output scales new peak in US

US natural gas production, consumption, and exports in 2018 hit record highs, the US Energy Information Administration's reported. According to EIA's Natural Gas Annual 2018, US dry natural gas production in 2018 increased by 12 percent, reaching a record-high average of 2.37 billion cubic meters per day. This increase was the largest percentage increase since 1951 and the largest volumetric increase in the history of the series, which dates back to 1930.

Ireland's goods exports surge 140% in Sept

Ireland's goods exports to China soared by nearly 140 percent in September compared with the same month last year. The data from the Central Statistics Office of Ireland showed that the Irish goods exported to China in the month were valued at 838 million euros ($924 million), up sharply by 138.74 percent over the September 2018 figure of 351 million euros. During the January-to-September period of this year, Ireland exported a total of 6.51 billion euros worth of goods to China, up by 78.11 percent compared with the corresponding period last year.