Trade:
Donald Trump has struck an optimistic tone on the economic relationship between China and the United States, amid rising trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Highlighting his friendship with Chinese president Xi Jinping, Trump predicted that China will eventually roll back its trade restrictions.
“Taxes will become reciprocal and a deal will be made on intellectual property,” he said in an April 8 tweet.
Trump’s tweet came just three days after he instructed the US trade representative to consider placing $100bn of tariffs on Chinese goods, in addition to the $50bn proposed tariffs he previously suggested. Washington claims that China has obtained US intellectual property and treated US businesses unfairly.
Xi will talk about trade and further liberalisation in a wide-ranging speech on Tuesday at the Boao Forum for Asia, which takes place in Hainan between April 8 and 11. Participants can expect to hear from the Chinese leader about a series of new measures on the opening up of the economy, Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister, told an April 3 press conference.
Regulators:
The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) officially inaugurated on Sunday, according to an April 9 announcement published by the regulator.
The banking and insurance sectors got off to a good start in the first quarter of the year, the CBIRC reported in the statement. The banking sector has grown its overall assets and beefed up liquidity, while improving the quality of loans at the same time. The insurance sector has also improved its solvency.
Leadership roles at the regulator, including the appointment of former banking watchdog Guo Shuqing as its chief, were filled last month, shortly after the State Council announced the merger of the China Banking Regulatory Commission and the China Insurance Regulatory Commission as part of its effort to shake up government institutions.
ETFs:
Investors can buy five ETFs by Vanguard listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in the renminbi or the dollar, the asset manager said in an April 9 press release.
Vanguard said the change will make it easier for investors to tap their ETFs, previously only available in the Hong Kong dollar, while maintaining their exposure to the dollar and the renminbi.
The five ETFs available in RMB and the dollar are FTSE Asia ex Japan High Dividend Yield Index ETF, FTSE Asia ex Japan Index ETF, FTSE Developed Europe Index ETF, FTSE Japan Index ETF and S&P 500 Index ETF.
Reserves:
China’s FX reserves grew by $8.3bn or 0.27% in March, standing at $3.14tr by the end of the month, a spokesperson at the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said in an April 8 statement.
RMB-denominated assets made up 0.1% of Russia’s FX reserves as of June 2017, according to the Russian central bank’s foreign exchange and gold asset management report.
Our most recent stories: