China – Page 11

PHL only emerging Asian nation with strong momentum: OECD

Sep 112013

Workers of National Parks Development Committee (NPDC) rush the beautification of all Manila City parks including Luneta Park on Monday (Sept. 9, 2013) (MNS photo) PARIS, September 9, 2013 (AFP) – Growth is picking up pace in most major rich nations but momentum is slowing or stable in emerging economies, the OECD said on Monday. Economic growth is accelerating in the United States, Britain and the eurozone, while it is above trend in Japan, according to the OECD’s index of composite leading indicators. The index is considered to be a reliable guide to future economic activity. The index suggested Italy and France are switching to growth. But the OECD, grouping 34 advanced countries, said growth was below trend in Brazil and India. Meanwhile it was returning to trend in China and was around trend level in Russia. In a separate report, the OECD said the Philippines was the only emerging Asian nation with strong business cycle momentum, although China and Singapore have stabilized. The OECD said “the key imminent downside risk facing Southeast Asia, China and India is the turmoil in the financial market, triggered by the prospects of tapering of quantitative easing (QE) policy in the US.” The US stimulus program led to a flood of funds into emerging markets seeking higher returns, but the impending shift in monetary policy has seen a sharp withdrawal, causing currencies and equities in some emerging markets to slump.

China is behaving like Janet Lim-Napoles

News

Sep 112013

China is behaving like Janet Lim-Napoles

Global Networking By Rodel Rodis 7:03 pm | Wednesday, September 11th, 2013 In two world stage events occurring simultaneously last week, China presented two starkly different faces: a big power statesman in one, and a petty barnyard bully in the other. The two faces were similar to the ones displayed by accused Pork Barrel Fixer Janet Lim-Napoles: in one acting like a regal socialite hobnobbing with Sen. Jinggoy Estrada and Sen. Bong Revilla, and in the other, behaving like a common thug when confronting subordinates like Benhur Luy who alleged that she kidnapped him last December 19, 2012 after learning of his intention to compete with her in the lucrative Pork Barrel scam business. The only difference between Napoles and China is the magnitude of their stages. For China, one world stage was the Summit of the Group of 20 (G20) top economic leaders of the world meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia on September 4-5 where China’s Pres. Xi Jinping presented his nation’s views on “ways to achieve a steady global recovery and a strong, sustainable and balanced growth”. At this Summit, Xi supported the efforts by the Summit’s host, Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin, to dissuade the US from bombing Syria. Xi warned that US military intervention in Syria would damage the world economy and jack up oil prices. Earlier, at his California Summit with Pres. Obama on June 7, 2013, Xi called on the US and China to “work together to build a new type of relations between major Read More …

July exports up by 2.3%

Economy

Sep 102013

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s merchandise exports increased by 2.3 percent to $4.836 billion in July 2013, up from the $4.727 billion posted in the same period last year, the National Statistics Office reported on Tuesday. Machinery and transport equipment, woodcrafts and furniture, chemicals, electronic products, and cathodes and sections of cathodes of refine copper supported the country’s exports, which grew by 7.7 percent from the $4.49 billion posted in June 2013. On the other hand, aggregate merchandise exports for the first seven months of the year dropped by 3.4 percent to $30.422 billion from the $31.487 billion posted in the same period last year. Electronic products, the country’s top export, accounted for 39.1 percent of the total export receipts at $1.893 billion, although it dropped by 5.6 percent from the previous month’s $2.006 billion. In terms of groups, manufactured goods made up 79.3 percent of the total export receipts, followed by mineral products (8.2 percent), total agro-based products (7.6 percent), special transactions (2.5 percent) and forest products (0.1 percent). Japan was the country’s top export destination with an 19.8-percent share, followed by China (13.2 percent), United States (12.6 percent), Hong Kong (8.5 percent) and Singapore (6.8 percent). Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

China's yuan joins world's most traded currencies

Economy

Sep 062013

China's yuan joins world's most traded currencies

Visitors look at the art work by American artist Tony Oursler entitled “100 Yuan (People’s Republic of China)” which features a projection of a Chinese renminbi note with a talking Mao Zedong at a gallery in Beijing, China. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) HONG KONG — China’s yuan has joined the ranks of the most traded currencies for the first time, underlining the growing might of the country’s economy, the world’s second-largest. The yuan became one of the top 10 traded currencies in 2013, rising to No. 9 on the list due to a “significant expansion” in offshore trading, the Bank for International Settlements said in a report Thursday. It’s a sharp jump from the bank’s last survey in 2010, when the yuan, also known as the renminbi, was No. 17 on the list. Turnover in trades involving yuan surged to $120 billion a day on average in April 2013, three and half times more than the $34 billion in 2010. Still, that figure is dwarfed by the dollar, which accounted for about $4.7 trillion daily. The Bank for International Settlements, which is an international organization of central banks, said the yuan along with the Mexican peso, which rose to No. 8, “saw the most significant rise in market share among major emerging market currencies.” China’s leaders want the yuan to become an international currency and have been promoting its use as an alternative to the dollar. The yuan is not yet fully convertible but Beijing has been gradually loosening controls. Read More …

DFA: PHL envoy to China in Manila for consultation amid Panatag issue

News

Sep 052013

DFA: PHL envoy to China in Manila for consultation amid Panatag issue

The Department of Foreign Affairs instructed Philippine Ambassador to China Erlinda Basilio to return to the country for a consultation. Basilio will be taking part in a consultation with top DFA officials regarding the Philippines’ maritime dispute with China, according to a report on “24-Oras” Thursday night. Basillio will return to China in a few days, the report said, adding that the order for her to be in Manila came a day after the Philippine government discovered concrete blocks scattered within the of Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea. Manila and Beijing figured in a standoff in Scarborough last year, which ended temporarily when President Benigno Aquino III ordered Philippine vessels to withdraw due to bad weather. China never left the area and even roped off the entrance to the shoal to prevent Filipino fishermen from gaining access and shelter in the vast lagoon. The South China Sea – a strategic waterway where a bulk of the world’s trade passes and believed to be rich in oil and natural gas – had been a source of conflict among competing claimants the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, China and Taiwan. Analysts fear the competing claims could spark a military conflict in the region. China claims the waters nearly in its entirety, citing historical entitlements as the basis for its huge claim, which Manila branded as “excessive and a violation of international law.” — with a report from Andrei Medina /LBG, GMA News

PH envoy to China back home for consultation

News

Sep 052013

PH envoy to China back home for consultation

Agence France-Presse 6:16 pm | Thursday, September 5th, 2013 Erlinda Basilio INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has asked its ambassador to China to return home for consultations, the foreign department said Thursday amid fresh tensions in a seething maritime territorial row. Ambassador Erlinda Basilio flew back to Manila as the defense department this week accused China of laying 75 concrete blocks on disputed territory in the South China Sea. “She was asked to come home for consultations, and she will (be in Manila) for the next few days,” Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez told reporters. Defense officials have expressed concern the Chinese block-laying could be a prelude to building structures at the shoal. The outcrop is about 650 kilometers from Hainan island, the nearest major Chinese land mass. Asked if Manila would lodge a diplomatic protest or undertake other options, Hernandez said: “We are still studying the matter.” The Philippine foreign ministry earlier said President Benigno Aquino had also called off a planned trip to China on Tuesday for a trade fair after Chinese authorities imposed conditions on the trip. The concrete blocks have raised concerns in Manila that China could be planning construction in the waters, as it did in Philippine-claimed Mischief Reef in another area of the sea, in 1995. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei rejected the Philippine allegations of block-laying on Wednesday, while asserting China’s sovereignty over the shoal. China claims most of the South China Sea, including waters close to the coasts Read More …

UK-based private group sees slower growth for Phl

Economy

Sep 042013

UK-based private group sees slower growth for Phl

MANILA, Philippines – The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) expects the economy growing by only 5.3 percent this year amid weak demand from China. “Strong growth in consumption and government spending in the Philippines will drive output up by 5.3 percent in 2013,” ICAEW said in a report. “While this is down on 2012, when GDP grew by 6.8 percent, it is 0.6 percentage points higher than average annual growth over the previous five years,” ICAEW said. This sharp deceleration from year-ago levels means slower growth for the second half of the year as the Philippine economy already grew by 7.6 percent in the first half. Moreover, this is below the government’s full-year economic growth target of six to seven percent this year. This expectation came as ICAEW expects growth in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to slow down to 4.7 percent this year from 5.5 percent in 2012. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “This slowdown will be largely driven by easing demand from China while a squeeze on the availability of capital in 2014 and 2015 as US monetary policy is tightened will also hold back growth,” ICAEW said. ICAEW expects China’s growth to slow down to 7.2 percent this year, from an average of 10.5 percent in the last 10 years due to a drop in demand for Chinese exports. ICAEW also expects the economy to grow by 5.4 percent in 2014 before falling to 4.6 percent in 2015.

China set impossible conditions for Aquino visit—DFA

News

Sep 022013

China set impossible conditions for Aquino visit—DFA

Associated Press 7:37 pm | Monday, September 2nd, 2013 DFA spokesman Assistant Secretary Raul Hernandez. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines — President Benigno Aquino III canceled a trip to a Chinese trade fair after Beijing demanded that he first withdraw a legal complaint over disputed territories in the South China Sea, Filipino officials said Monday. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and two other diplomats relayed conditions for Aquino to attend the annual China-Asean Expo, which opens Tuesday in the southern city of Nanning, Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez told a news conference. Hernandez declined to detail the conditions, but said these were “absolutely inimical to our national interest.” The Chinese side asked that the conditions not be publicly disclosed, he said. They were discussed by Wang and Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario in Beijing on Wednesday. Because of the conditions, Aquino decided to call off his publicly announced trip to the trade fair, Hernandez said, adding the Philippines will instead send a delegation headed by its trade secretary. “The president stood firm in the defense of the country’s national interest,” Hernandez said. Two Philippine officials told The Associated Press that China wanted Manila to withdraw a U.N. arbitration case over disputed islands in the South China Sea. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters. Chinese officials have also cited a new standoff between China and the Philippines over the Second Thomas Shoal, which is called Ayungin Shoal by Filipinos Read More …

DFA reveals story behind Aquino’s cancellation of China trip

News

Sep 022013

DFA reveals story behind Aquino’s cancellation of China trip

By Matikas SantosINQURER.net 4:21 pm | Monday, September 2nd, 2013 DFA spokesman Assistant Secretary Raul Hernandez. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines – No deal. President Benigno Aquino III refused several conditions set by China for him to attend the annual China-Asean Exposition, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) assistance secretary Raul Hernandez told reporters Monday. “There were subsequent concerns and conditions to the President’s attendance and such conditions were absolutely inimical to our national interest,” Hernandez said. “The President stood firm in the defense of the country’s national interest,” he said. Hernandez refused to divulge the conditions, which were conveyed by at least three Chinese Foreign Ministry sources and confirmed by two Philippine Foreign Ministers during a meeting in Beijing last August 28, 2013. “To avoid embarrassment on the Chinese side, we will not state these conditions but you may wish to address this specific question to Chinese Ambassador Ma Keqing,” Hernandez said. “We were advised that these conditions should not be made public and should not be discussed at Ministerial level,” he said. The DFA maintained that Aquino was invited to the event. Follow Us Recent Stories: Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks and mobile phones; 14-issue free trial. About to step out? Get breaking alerts on your mobile.phone. Text ON INQ BREAKING to 4467, for Globe, Smart and Sun subscribers in the Philippines. Tags: China , Features , Global Nation Factual errors? Contact the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s day desk. Believe this article violates journalistic ethics? Read More …

Why gold is making a comeback

Economy

Aug 312013

Gold is having a summer revival. The price of gold touched $1,420 an ounce this week, a three-and-a-half month high, as escalating tensions in the Middle East, volatile currency markets and renewed demand for jewelry in China and India pushed prices higher. Gold has rebounded 15 percent to $1,396 an ounce since sinking to $1,212, its lowest level in almost three years, on June 27. A gain of 20 percent or more would put the metal back in a bull market. Gold’s resurgence follows a rough ride this year. Gold slumped 4.8 percent in the first three months of 2013 as the outlook for the economy improved while inflation remained subdued. For many years prior to that, large investors, like hedge funds, bought the metal as a way to protect their investments against rising prices and a slumping dollar. They feared that the Federal Reserve’s stimulus program could cause prices to rise. But inflation remained subdued and that reduced the need to buy gold. Also, signs in January that the dollar was strengthening diminished the appeal of owning gold. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Then in April, the bottom fell out. A proposal that Cyprus sell some of its gold reserves to support its banks rattled traders, prompting concern that Spain, Italy and other weak European economies might also sell and flood the market. Gold plunged by $140 an ounce, or nine percent, on April 15 as investors unloaded their holdings. That was the biggest one-day Read More …

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