Microsofts Bing Search Engine is no longer Accessible in China
Company News

Microsoft’s Bing Search Engine is no longer Accessible in China

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Amid trade tensions between the United States and China, China has blocked the access of Microsoft’s search engine Bing. And with the blocking of Bing, China blocked all major non-Chinese search engines that had been operating there.

And according to the reports from the sources, the order to block the search engine had come from the Government.

Microsoft Spokesperson in reply said they have confirmed that Bing is currently not accessible in China and they have engaged experts to determine the next step.

It should be reported here that the Internet is heavily censored in China as a form of information control. Many non-Chinese techs and social media giants like Facebook and Twitter are blocked there.

The report of blockage of Microsoft’s Bing engine comes in the time of on-going negotiations for tariff between the two largest economies of the world. And experts believe that the trade war may have spillover effects on the technology world turning it into a tech war.

On Tuesday, the former deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, Zhu Min said that China is also considering completely cutting investment into the Silicon Valley after the scrutiny episode with world’s largest telecom equipment maker, Huawei.

The issue with Huawei aggravated when its Chief Financial Officer was arrested in Canada last year. It is believed that the arrest was made on the request of Washington. The allegations on him were he violated American sanctions on Iran. Though he has been released on bail, the possibility of extradition is still substantial.

The United States along with many western countries including Canada, Germany, Britain, and Australia accuse China of data theft through its link with Huawei. They have even blocked Huawei’s equipment from sensitive infrastructure projects. However, Beijing denies these allegations.

In the past couple of years, China has declared openly its intention to become a world tech leader over the next decade, and it has been investing hundreds of billions of dollars in technologies like Artificial Intelligence and autonomous vehicles.

News

Tamil Nadu Intends to be the popular hub for defense sectors, aerospace, sights investment of worth $15 billion

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The Tamil Nadu government in considering an investment of worth $15 billion in the aerospace and defense department during the next 15 years to enable the State the most popular hub for both the sectors.

When Nirmala Sitharaman revealed the most awaited desirous aerospace and defense policy, the Defence Minister investment of $15 billion was informed. During the opening day of the Global Investors Meet the second edition on Wednesday, it was mentioned.

The main goal of the policy is to shape Tamil Nadu as the most preferred hub for aerospace and defense industries across India especially in the areas of design engineering, allied operations, and manufacturing.

In Tiruchirappalli, on January 20 the Defence Minister Sitharaman has unveiled the Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor which is about 300km away from Chennai. Investment of worth more than Rs 3,038 crore, at this defense corridor it was stated among them the majority of them were from public sector undertakings.

The objective of the Aerospace and Defence policy is to draw investment of around $5 billion in the next 5 year and later investment of another $10 billion by ten years mainly in the aerospace and defense department

The government also intends to create more job of around 1 lakh during the initial ten years especially in the field of aerospace and defense sectors.

Apart from this Aerospace and Defence sectors will be boosted, the policy will also control the strengths of Tamil Nadu mainly in the automotive manufacturing industry.

Tamil Nadu is home for most popular automobile companies. These companies have established themselves in the State among them the most popular are the following one’s Ford, BMW, Hyundai Motor India, and India Yamaha Motors.

The government also desires to develop Center of Excellence, Skill development institutions and Research and Development centers within the State by drawing the attention of global OEMs [Original equipment manufacturers] and top Indian companies across Tamil Nadu.

Some of the important benefits about Tamil Nadu in boosting the industries have covered in the policy. Namely, the state will rank first depending upon the number of factories and industries employees.

Tamil Nadu’s Gross State Domestic Product has increased at an annual growth rate of around 9 percent during the year 2004-2005 and during 2016-2017 average rate of around 7.5 percent growth higher than the national growth rate.

In India, Tamil Nadu is the third largest manufacturer of electronic and hardware, and the electronic hardware companies of the State noticed a growth, the annual growth rate from 2008 was around 30 percent.

In State, fortune 500 companies have established the manufacturing facilities which includes companies like Dell Computers, Motorola, Foxconn, Flextronics, Samsung Sanmina-SCI and other it mentioned.

To build the aerospace and defense industry in the State, the government is considering undertaking Cluster development and use appropriate approach to develop the aerospace and defense manufacturing unit by building the most needed infrastructure.

Some of the government agencies like the Tamil Nadu Industrial Government Corporation and SIPCOT will develop parks related to aerospace and defense industries using adequate infrastructure within the State.

The government will establish single window clearance facility through the Tamil Nadu Industrial Guidance Bureau that will look after the overall industry of aerospace and defense mostly associated with the infrastructure and manufacturing projects regardless of the size of the investment, it stated.

The formal launch of the aerospace and defense policy was revealed by the Defence Minister Sitharaman and the first copy of the policy was accepted by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu K Palaniswami.

Trading News

United States need to Centralize China’s Technology Program after the Trade Talks are resumed Business Group Claims

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American trade peacemakers were informed by two US business groups that the Hi-tech initiative of Beijing is moving ahead as illustrated in the Made in China 2015 plan. Made in China is a policy whose objective is to concentrate on the tasks that are assumed to be resumed by next week in an attempt to end the trade war.

American Chamber of Commerce that was held in China along with a joint report said that the US Chamber of Commerce had recognized more than 100 policies within 24 provinces and cities such that they create rules, either set goals or furnish the initial guidance that will instantly initiate or are directly associated to MIC 2025. MIC 2025 is an essential initiative which is backed by Xi Jinping the Chinese President focused mainly on developing technology sectors which compromise semiconductors, aviation, robotics, and AI.

The group’s results were later rendered to the US Trade Representative Office a few days back The Wall Street Journal first mentioned about it in its report.

Is it made in China 2025 Plan How is Beijing going to direct the world?

According to the data that was published by South China Morning Post says that positive Chinese approach seems to be occurring at a regional level.

Outstanding individual innovations, developing and intellectual property is the main goal while the local government is vigorously trying to promote and develop their specific plans along with the MIC 2025 plan with the help of the state government, declaration according to the US Chamber of Commerce.

Is this the turning phase for the US-China relations and trade war?

It is recommended for in-depth, constant and combined effort within the sub-central authorities to execute and also accept profit about the incentives ties of Made in China 2025 plan stated in a report.

Systematic challenges must be addressed by the Chinese government at all levels whatever the solution could be.

Apart from lowering the trade deficit of US with China as per the reports titled on Washington to priorities outcomes to address the fundamental challenges related to China’s economic policies and habits while the groups claim are unjust and limiting for the US companies.

With the help of Made in China in 2025, China intends to govern the Hi-tech sector hit a stumbling block

Little progress was made at the time of negotiations which has led for high concerns. In Beijing during the recent time, Beijing has approached the issue related to the deep-rooted conflicts about China’s state-approved industry policies and the Hi-tech development program.

The countdown for Trade War Agreement

During talks, sources informed the Post that the plans related to scaling up of buying the American goods were discussed by the Chinese negotiators, which would intent to help the trade imbalance by lowering it and further preventing the issues related to structural challenges of the Chinese economy.

Financial Times stated in its report that Chinese proposal of sending vice minister-level officials to Washington to make the we have rejected arrangement for the visit of Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He’s which is scheduled next week this has further led for doubts and confusion as to whether or not the countries intend to meet the March 1 deadline which is fixed by the US President Donald Trump and by Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of the traffic increases resumes.

China’s Economy Slows Downs Further, Lowest ever compared with Quarterly Growth

The President of the US-China Business Council Craig Allen moved away from such issues quoting it as a simple logistics that keeps on changing over the time.

While planning its quite not essential to have a face to face consultation Craig stated.

Craig further believed that there is no need to worry about such developments at all and we should concentrate on the bigger picture.

The White House Chief Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow on Tuesday spoke to CNBC stating that no meeting has been lined-up during this week although both the countries are constantly in touch with each other before the talks that are scheduled in next week.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying In Beijing replied to Kudlow’s statement saying that she has observed the statement given by an American official and he has clarified the issue. Both the countries are in touch with each other related to trade talks. There are no changes that I have noticed or heard. Hua said it in a press conference that was held on Wednesday.

The joint report suggests that China should make changes in policy guidance and regulations to remove technology transfer, further coping with the market barriers and unfairness related to hi-tech development plans that are incorporated by MIC2025.

We request the US government authorities to make a comprehensive approach that will accomplish concurrent and distinct changes governing to regulations, laws, standards, and performance after that within China’s policy landscape it was mentioned.

Further, it also mentioned that China’s assurance to reform should be linked to free guidelines, timelines, and intense monitoring.

The report also suggests for the removal of obstacles related to cross border data flowed and approached the US negotiators to claim that the US digital service providers have objected about the China address security requirements, which are biased and harms the competition in the Chinese market.

Spanish Auto Firm SEAT
Company News

Spanish Auto Firm SEAT to Use Blockchain for Driving Up Efficiency

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After the banking and financial technology firms, the blockchain technology has found a new client in the automobile industry. SEAT, a Spanish car maker, has joined hands with the Alastria consortium to develop products and services based on blockchain technology. The carmaker is looking to develop a system for exchanging its various product and services without the need of any third party, and hence, it has decided to embrace the concept of the blockchain. The company is of the view that the adoption of blockchain will help enhance procedural security of the system and make the transactions far safer for its clients.

SEAT and Alastria

SEAT is looking forward to testing and further developing its platform of blockchain-based products and services while seeking cooperation and synergies from the other participating companies in the consortium. So that you know, Alastria is a first blockchain infrastructure consortium promoted by the Spanish business institutions and companies belonging to a range of different business sectors. The primary objective of this consortium is the establishment and promotion of independent and neutral blockchain infrastructure that will work under the legal framework of Spain besides complying with regulations of the European Union. The consortium will help to make the funds and contacts available for the community members. It aims to develop a holistic blockchain ecosystem that will not only help the member companies but will also ensure that the benefits reach users and organizations outside the consortium.

Application Areas

The carmaker SEAT wants to make sure that different divisions in the company apprise themselves with the blockchain and the potential benefits they can derive from the technology. In the first phase of blockchain implementation, SEAT has chosen finance and production division for the blockchain implementation to improve the efficiency of procedural standards in the organization. The carmaker is looking forward to develop and implement digital solutions for improving the process of producing cars that will subsequently help it to become more flexible, agile, and efficient in the long run.

SEAT has already initiated the process of adopting and implementing blockchain technology. The company has recently collaborated with Telefonica, a Spanish telecommunication company, to implement the blockchain-based project to improve supply chain management at its Martorell factory. The project will help in traceability of the parts in the factory and will help SEAT to drive up the overall efficiency of its supply chain.

Global Growth a Challenge
Stocks

Global Growth a Challenge as Asian Shares and US Stock Slips Down

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On Tuesday, the shares of the Asian countries collapsed, and the prices of oil further slipped down. This has led for discouragement about world growth, and a group of investors is staying away from the risky assets whereas sterling ticked lower during the recent twists and turns that appeared in the Brexit.

After the announcement of Beijing, the world’s second-largest economic growth in 2018 has declined to its weakest level lowest in the decade since the report on Monday China started with an unstable week. Adding to this, the International Monetary Fund has lowered the global growth predictions while a survey that was conducted showed increased grief within business organization executives due to the overshadowing of the trade tensions.

The joyless news emphasized that policymakers from around the world are facing challenges and need to deal with the crisis especially with a current crisis or potential crisis from among the US-China trade war and with Brexit.

The ANZ analysts in morning news reported that it is the second decline of IMF in a row.

According to spreadbetters, there is another weak for Europe to start. During US stock futures the FTSE futures[FF1c1] was down by 0.2 percent that showed a sign regarding Wall Street and how the Wall Street will open, the [Esc1][1YMc1] were off to around 0.7 percent.

In Asia, most of the losses were headed by the Chinese shares and the blue-chip index showing at <.CSI300> which was off by 1.2 percent. The Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index [.HSI] also noticed a downfall of more than 1 percent and Australia’s main Share Index [.AXJO] trembled at 0.5 percent

On Tuesday the broadest Index of Asia Pacific MSCI’s located outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> was dropped by 0.9 percent. It was almost top for seven weeks in its recent times.

Japan Nikkei [.N225] which had noticed a strong opening also dropped by 0.7 percent.

Due to the holiday, the US markets remained closed on Monday, so the trading was normally weak through the night. Although, due to inappropriate Chinese data the equity price in Europe and Latin America slipped down.

Nick Twidale is a Sydney based analyst working at Rakuten Securities Australia stated that because of the financial markets the stress related to slow global growth have started to trickle.

The worries made money to be sent for copper by using used electrical wire, vehicle and drifting lower.

To overcome the threat new strategy was used, the Australian dollar [USD=D3] most preferably used a liquid proxy for China investments which put the investment on track for almost three straight sessions of losses and eased it by 0.3 percent to around $0.7134.

No Brexit Deal?

The analyst Twidale of Sydney mentioned that once the London market opens then the focus will be totally on the UK while the Brexit news remains in the minds for investors.

Brexit still remains crucial for the UK markets, and the progress seems to be limited. The due date is approaching very fast, and everything looks like a real concern as there is no progress at all between the various aspects involved, the possibility is of the hard kind that seems like no deal will appear in Brexit and this is more like to happen in real time.

Teresa May the British Prime Minister declined to prevent the no- deal Brexit which further made the sterling to be weak at $1.2872. There are few indications that the Prime Minister can crack the deadline along with the parliament members only after the rejection of the Brexit deal last week.

May further offered to make some improvements in her rejected deal by allowing concessions from the European Union; this was a backup plan to escape the hard border of Ireland.

Liam Peach, the Capital Economic analyst, said that any upside for sterling could be limited in the coming days. Confusion will continue to remain throughout the long negotiations process, and there seems to be no assurance that the process will last for a short period.

The investors are in distress about creating positions in the pound because of Britain going away from EU without making any deal the analyst announced the state.

There was a demand for the safe haven that made greenback to stay under pressure beside the Japanese Currency was last bought at 109.41 per dollar. The euro was close to its last trading range and currently is trading at $1.1358[EUR=] range against different currencies, the dollar was stable and remained unchanged at 96.393[.DXY].

The global growth was a huge concern that pulled down the oil prices further lowering them in commodities. In stock Brent [LCOc1] was nearly down by 55 percent at $62.19 and the US crude futures [CLc1] falls off by 39 percent at 53.41 [O/R].

Emerging Economies
News

Emerging Economies are facing risks due to weak capital flow; currency declines: IMF Chief Economist Gopinath

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Gita Gopinath, the Chief Economist of IMF in Davos on Monday signaled that due to weak global growth at a rate greater than expected the emerging economies are facing huge risks which are caused by weak capital flow mainly because of US activeness and due to a decrease in currency value.

In 2018 the global growth remained close to post-crisis highs, the global expansion is weakening, and the rate is at some extent greater than the expectation. During the IMF’s World Economic Outlook Gita Gopinath made these statements by briefing the current updates.

The Global growth prediction made by IMF is around 3.5 percent for the year 2019 and around 3.6 percent for the year 2020 if compared to October predictions they are below 0.2 and 0.1 points. Despite the modest declining revisions Gopinath further mentioned that numerous downward corrections are at greater risks and are soaring high.

While back when the financial market appeared in advanced economies, in most of 2018, the financial market seems to detach from trade pressures. Adding to this she said, although in recent times both of them have lined up together to improve the financial circumstances and to strengthen them, also intensifying the global growth risks.

The expansion of US is proceeding ahead. However, the prediction remains for the deceleration while unwinding of economic stimulations. Due to rising economic activities and growing economies, it is predicted that the rate could be down to 4.5 percent during 2019 and may bounce up-to 4.9 percent during 2020.

By the opinion for growing markets and developing economies continuous headwinds are reflected due to weak capital flow as a result of higher US policy rates and deduction in the exchange rate, in spite of being less extreme Gopinath stated.

Gopinath further added that from across the emerging economies some economies picked the inflation that was reserved towards the end of 2018. The Increase trade tensions and the deteriorating financial condition are the primary threats to the outlook. Gopinath even added that the un-prediction of higher trade will further hamper the investment process and will also violate the global supply chains.

In countries, it is too costly to tighten the financial situations more securely and complexly in consideration with the high volumes of debt related to the public and private sector. Christine Lagarde, the Managing Director along with the first women chief economist of IMF, announced by sitting at her side. China’s growth has declined, and if the trade tension escalates then, we may notice much faster slowdown than expected. Further, there can be a sudden spark and a decline in the market, especially in the financial and commodity markets. Same was the situation during the year 2015 to 2016, Gopinath mentioned.

Excitement over Brexit continues in Europe and is too costly to spread over other areas. The sovereign and financial risk remain a threat in Italy. There are huge difficulties and threats in the US which can last for a longer time than expected if the US federal government shutdowns.

Company News

Alipay secures smooth business amidst Brexit tensions

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China’s leading mobile and online payments app Alipay has received e-money license in Luxembourg.

Alipay already holds a license issued by Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority. Luxembourg, a small country between Belgium, Germany, and France gave Alipay the surety of uninterrupted and smooth business in the event of a strong exit of UK from the European Union. The new P2D2 license will allow the Alibaba group to connect Chinese users with local merchants in EU countries and vice versa. The increase of mobile payments has effectively increased local merchant sales and advance the financial tech economy both in China and Europe. According to a recent survey, about 71% of Alipay adopting sellers said they recommend its use to increase sales.

With more than a billion users worldwide the Chinese giant Alibaba has been lobbying the Brexit situation and proactively approaching solutions to a worst-case scenario Brexit. The new Luxembourg licensed entity will be called Alipay (Europe) Limited S.A. and was officially introduced to the world in a Hong Kong press release by Pierre Gramegna, the Minister of Finance in Luxembourg.

Supporting the country’s decision of license grant, Mr. Pierre said: “Alipay’s presence would be beneficial to the Luxembourg financial ecosystem and will facilitate Luxembourg to consolidate the country’s position as the leading European hub for financial technology and e-commerce in EU.”

The news comes instead of another technology giant Alphabet Inc. being granted a payments license in Ireland, a move that will see Google expand its financial services offerings across all European countries.

Chinese Tech Giant Huaweis
Opinion & Analysis

Chinese Economy Hits Its Lowest In 3 Decades

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China which is the world’s second-largest economy grew by 6.6% which is slowest in 28 years. As per the latest official data released the economy lost its way further in the last quarter as the county tried to overcome the debt crises and the ongoing trade war with the United States. With that, there is tremendous pressure on the communist leaders to make an amicable settlement with the U.S and end the trade war. The report showed that the growth dipped to its lowest quarterly since the 2008 recession.

The Chinese government is meanwhile implementing measures to enable the country to get more sustained growth through customer spending. However, the customer reaction to this is jittery as they see impending job losses which have made them wary of spending. That has, in turn, prompted the government to increase spending and has even asked banks to reduce interest rates and increase lending so that they can reduce the job cuts. Despite these measures, the growth is expected to go further low as these take time to produce results. Analysts believe that there could be a slowdown again this year and reduce growth to 6.3%. However, if the quarterly growth is taken into account, there was an increase in 1.6 percent from the previous quarter while the analyst has predicted 1.5%.

Oxford Economist Louis Kuijs said in a report that the ‘Growth will remain under pressure’ and that it could get worse if the credit growth and the trade tussle with the US do not end quickly.

The trade war with the US to end soon?

The Chinese government which is already under great pressure after customer spending reduced due to fears of job losses and slowdown are keen on ending the tussle with the US. It can be considered as a sign of progress as Beijing announced that Liu He who is the vice premier and their top envoy of trade would be visiting Washington for bilateral talks that are going to be held at the end of January.  That has prompted economists and analysts to suggest that the talks held at a low-level have made progress and that has made China and American opposite number Robert Lightizer. Trump also indicated that it was ‘going very well’ and a deal could happen very soon.

The key risk to the Chinese economy is if the talks fail yet again and no deal is made then that is a huge downside to the growth.

Chinese Economy Grew
Opinion & Analysis

Chinese Economy Grew the Lowest since 1990

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China has officially declared that its economy has grown at 6.6 percent in 2018. It is the slowest growth of the Chinese economy since 1990.

The experts highly anticipated this official announcement all over the world amidst on-going talks with the United States on trade and tariffs.

Economists also have predicted that the Chinese economic growth would fall to this level from the 2017 level of 6.8 percent.

The fourth quarter has seen the lowest 6.4 percent growth, as expected. The fourth quarter growth in 2017 was 6.5 percent.

As per Chinese official data, there also few spots where the second largest economy has the edge. Industrial output grew 5.7 percent in December from a year earlier as the economists have expected growth of 5.3 percent. And the November’s industrial output was 5.4 percent.

Retail sales data rose 8.2 percent in December on-year, in line with a forecast and rose from November’s 8.1 percent gain.

Helen Zhu, head of China equities at BlackRock said the exporters are now trying to get the goods out of China to the United States before the new tariff regime starts. Though the economy is experiencing a deceleration, the vital hope for China is the exports.

She also told that she had expected support to the economy by increased Chinese Consumption and tax cuts. But, she reaffirmed that the growth for 2019 would be lower than the figures of 2018.

It is curious to know that some people have their reservations regarding accepting the Chinese official records of GDP growth. The veracity of the figures issued by the Chinese agency is yet to be proved.

Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at Capital Economics, a research house said the official GDP figures from China are so stable that it won’t be a proper picture of Chinese economic preference.

He also added that the service sector had been strengthened in the last quarter.

Chinese statistics bureau chief Ning Jizhesaid that the trade war with the United States has affected the domestic economy, but the impact is manageable. As per one report, the uptrend in the Chinese economy is happening due to the rise in the domestic demand.

Even before the China- U.S trade war, China was trying to manage the slowdown in its economy.

China is now trying to balance a crackdown on high debt levels while also maintaining economic growth. It is also trying to reduce the reliance on the debt would benefit the economy in the long run, it likely means a far slower pace of growth than the country has seen in recent years.

While as per the official data released the Chinese economy fared well for most of the months in 2018, but now the economy appears to be slowing down.

The two largest economies after a series of conflicts between them on trade practices finally agreed to make a deal out of this. China has offered a six-year boost in imports during its ongoing talks with the U.S., as per the sources. China also has promised to buy more goods from the United States which will be working as a boost Trumps’ electoral promises.

Trading News

China Oil Demand Rises Oil Price To Highest In 2019

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The prices of oil hit its highest in 2019 as refinery processing data in China rose to a high in 2018. It brings a huge cheer to the industry as China which is the second largest economy in the world had a slowdown in 2018. The price rise is also partly because of the OPEC supply cuts. The National Bureau of statistics which released the data on Monday also reported that the output of the crude oil refinery jumped to 603.57 million tonnes in 2018 which is 12.12 million barrels a day and is up by 6.8% from last year. These figures are despite the slow economic growth witnessed by China after it posted its lowest growth in 28 years at 6.6%.

After the release of this data, the WTI or the West Texas Intermediate saw its price rise to $54 for a barrel for the first time in 2019. Brent also saw its cost rise to $63 for the first time this year. International Brent Crude oil was at $62.94 up by 0.4%.

Analysts had earlier predicted a much worse situation, and although the slowdown was as expected, it was not as worse as they had predicted. Despite the rise in oil prices the situation in the Chinese economy and the global economy is still gloomy, though a possible US-China truce and Beijing easing the credit crunch is a positive sign.

The Crude prices are likely to rise further as analysts believe that the supply cuts by OPEC will further strengthen it. A statement by JP Morgan said that Brent could remain above $60 per barrel on OPEC compliance, slower U.S growth, and the expiration of Iran waivers’. It also suggested that investors should consider staying for long as they expect the price to rise.

The reason behind the price rise:

Analysts believe that by the end of this year, the price of crude oil can rise to $70 as the OPEC cuts its supply which leads to a supply deficit in the market. Energy firms cut the rigs to drill for oil and reached its lowest of 852 in May 2018. That was mainly because of the slump in crude prices in the US by up to 40% last year. Though the number of rigs reduced, the oil production in the US still was up by 2 million barrels per day to a high of 11 million barrels per day. Though the growth which was seen by last year is not likely to happen this in 2019, analysts still expect that the US will remain the biggest producer of oil.