Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Energy News .




POLITICAL ECONOMY
ADB revises down regional growth as China and India slow
by Staff Writers
Hong Kong (AFP) Sept 22, 2015


Chinese investors protest over metals exchange
Beijing (AFP) Sept 22, 2015 - Chinese speculators who claim to have lost money on risky investments mounted a rare protest in Beijing Tuesday, a uncommon sight in the capital despite plunging prices on the country's stock exchanges.

Several dozen investors -- surrounded by police -- stood outside the office of China's top anti-graft agency complaining they were tricked by the Fanya metals exchange.

Many Chinese financial institutions offer high return investment schemes based on increasing asset prices, but slowing growth has heightened fears that such products could go bust, potentially sparking social unrest.

The Fanya exchange in southern China offered investors a bet on increased metal prices, promising some double-digit returns on their investments.

But with commodities plunging worldwide, metals prices have fallen this year and some of the exchange's reported 220,000 investors say that they are not able to withdraw funds as promised.

The problems date back to mid-April, reports said, predating the Chinese stock market plunges that began in June.

China's main financial institutions are government-run, and many expect the state to step in when the investments they have chosen go bad.

One protester named Peng Yuan told AFP he invested more than one million yuan ($160,000) in the product, using family savings and credit card debt.

"I'm in debt -- hundreds of thousands that I put in were borrowed money," said Peng, who is unemployed and in his 50s. "This is outright fraud and robbery."

Zhou Yuanyue, a retired woman from Jinggangshan in Jiangxi province, said she poured more than three million yuan into Fanya, including from her siblings and her parents' pensions, who trusted her to manage their investments.

"They took our money and it's gone."

Investors wore white t-shirts calling Fanya a "scam" and appealing for a police investigation into the exchange, pictures posted online showed, with officers far outnumbering protesters.

On its website, Fanya has blamed "macro-economic conditions and policy factors" for difficulties traders were having "getting their cash back", adding it was taking "measures to restore market liquidity".

Tuesday's demonstration was the latest in a series by Fanya investors, and followed a larger one on Monday, when several hundred gathered outside the office of China's top securities regulator, according to images online which were rapidly censored.

Large-scale protests are rare in the tightly-policed capital.

Last month, investors seized Fanya's chairman Shan Jiuliang at a Shanghai hotel and handed him over to police, reports said. He was later released.

Impact of China slowdown bigger than expected: IMF chief
Washington (AFP) Sept 22, 2015 - The impact of China's economic slowdown on the global economy is bigger than previously thought, the head of the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday.

The slowdown of Chinese growth has "probably more spillover effects in the region in particular than what was anticipated," Christine Lagarde said in a speech at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.

According to Lagarde, the Chinese cooling has "downside risks... greater than they were estimated."

"Growth is lower," she said, referring to the global economy.

China's slowdown, and questions about the government's ability to manage it, have spurred concerns about the health of the world's second-largest economy that have rattled financial markets in recent months.

Lagarde noted the easing Chinese growth had already helped push commodity prices lower, putting pressure on export-led economies and their public finances.

Weaker growth in China this year is expected to cause a slowdown in the rest of Asia, the Asian Development Bank said Tuesday as it became the latest major body to revise down its forecasts for the world's number two economy.

It also warned central banks to prepare for an expected Federal Reserve interest rate rise, with many nations already seeing huge capital outflows as dealers look for safer US investments.

The report comes as markets have been hit by extreme volatility driven by fears over the Chinese economy -- and its leaders' management of it -- after last month's surprise devaluation of its yuan currency.

"The combination of a moderating prospect in China and India, together with delayed recovery of advanced countries, weighed on our forecast for the region as a whole," said ADB Chief Economist Shang-Jin Wei, who presented the report at the Foreign Correspondents' Club in Hong Kong.

In an update to its flagship Asian Development Outlook released in March, the Bank said growth in the region would hit 5.8 percent this year and 6.0 percent in 2016. March's forecast was for 6.3 percent for both years.

Inflation in the developing Asia region was forecast to ease further, partly due to lower global commodity prices.

Wei said that the overall outlook for the region was "still positive" but had been impacted by capital flow reversals and weakened commodity prices for exporters, partly related to the China slowdown.

"Developing Asia is expected to continue to be the largest contributing region to global growth despite the moderation," he added.

However, it tipped China -- the main driver of global economic growth -- to expand 6.8 percent this year, instead of the 7.2 previously estimated, following a stream of weak indicators including on trade, inflation, investment and consumer spending.

- US rate worries -

The ADB predicted growth rate would be the slowest since 1990, a year after the Tiananmen Square crackdown that led to global sanctions against Beijing. It is also below China's official target for the year of "about" 7 percent.

But Wei said talk of a collapse in Chinese growth was "overblown".

"Consumption growth continues to look relatively strong. Retail sales look relatively resilient... job market employment looks relatively resilient," he said.

Wei added that stocks volatility was unlikely to have a long-lasting effect on growth.

It added that Southeast Asia was bearing the brunt of China's slowdown, with growth in Southeast Asia this year put at 4.4 percent, before rising to 4.9 percent in 2016.

Jurgen Conrad, head of the ADB's economic unit, told reporters in Beijing that the revision was "mainly due to the delayed recovery in industrial countries reducing export demand".

Last week the OECD cut its 2015 growth forecast for China by 0.1 percentage points to 6.7 percent.

Forecasts for India were also lowered to 7.4 percent from 7.8 percent, weighed by the slow pace of reform by the new government and weak external demand, the report said.

The ADB urged regional central banks to move now on monetary policy to prepare for a US rate hike, which Fed chief Janet Yellen has said will come before the end of the year.

"To counter the impacts of a US rate rise, monetary policy authorities in developing Asia will need to find a balance between stabilising the financial sector and stimulating domestic demand," the report warned.

A tightening of US monetary policy would likely lead to the flight of much-needed capital from developing nations as traders move into the US in search of better returns.

This would in turn put pressure on central banks to lift rates themselves in a bid to protect their currencies, at a time when they are struggling to kickstart tepid growth at home.

World markets were rocked after the Fed on Thursday held off announcing a rise, with Yellen citing the threats to the US economy caused by China's economy as a key reason for the decision.


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
The Economy






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle




Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News





POLITICAL ECONOMY
China premier urges state sector reform
Beijing (AFP) Sept 20, 2015
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang urged reforms Sunday of inefficient state-owned enterprises as his government tries to restore confidence in its slowing economy, state media reported on Sunday. State-owned enterprises (SOE) "are in urgent need of reforms as... poor management [has] resulted in declining profits", Li said on Friday while presiding over a meeting on reform in the sector, according ... read more


POLITICAL ECONOMY
Burning all fossil energy would eliminate all ice of Antarctica

Fuel savings can pay for green energy shift: report

New wearable technology can sense appliance use, help track carbon footprint

British study finds new potential for carbon storage

POLITICAL ECONOMY
Designing switchable electric and magnetic order for low-energy computing

Coal's image suffering in climate debate: BHP

New ORNL catalyst addresses engine efficiency, emissions quandary

SeaRoc and Natural Power helping EDF's Paimpol-Brehat Tidal Farm

POLITICAL ECONOMY
Adwen reaches a 630 MW capacity in operations

As wind-turbine farms expand, research shows they lose efficiency

Researchers find way for eagles and wind turbines to coexist

North Dakota plans more wind power capacity

POLITICAL ECONOMY
The precision of solar photovoltaic power measurements doubled

DoE contracts SolarReserve to develop concentrating solar technology

Sky Solar and Hudson Clean Energy to fund up to $100 million in solar projects

Scientists improve measurements of solar panel power output

POLITICAL ECONOMY
Russia, Indonesia Sign Memorandum on Building High-Power, Floating NPPs

British Treasury guarantee to put Hinkley nuclear plant back on track

Britain pledges 2 billion pounds for nuclear plant

China playing central role in nuclear power development: IAEA chief

POLITICAL ECONOMY
Biodiesel made easier and cleaner with waste-recycling catalyst

Potential of disk-shaped small structures, coccoliths

Water heals a bioplastic

Waste coffee used as fuel storage

POLITICAL ECONOMY
Long March-2D carrier rocket blasts off in NW China

Progress for Tiangong 2

China rocket parts hit villager's home: police, media

China's "sky eyes" help protect world heritage Angkor Wat

POLITICAL ECONOMY
EU to set out negotiating stand for Paris climate summit

How to beat the climate crisis? Start with carrots

Inside climate politics

Upslope migration of tropical plants due to climate change




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.