Beijing has put online giants on notice - Chinese trustbusters’ pursuit of Alibaba is only the start

“Acting on information, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation [SAMR] has started investigation [into] Alibaba Group for alleged monopoly conduct including implementing an ‘exclusive dealing agreement’.” This brief note, posted by Xinhua, the state news agency, on December 24th, was all it took to cut China’s mightiest online titan down to size. Not even the announcement three days later of an additional $6bn in share buy-backs arrested the slide in its share price. By December 28th it had fallen by 13%, wiping $91bn off the firm’s market capitalisation. American regulators, whose detailed charge-sheets against tech giants such as Facebook and Google in recent weeks elicited a yawn from investors, must have looked on with envy.

Read more at The Economist

US advises against storing data within reach of China's government

The federal Department of Homeland Security is urging U.S. businesses and individuals to avoid storing data with Chinese companies due to the risk the country's government will demand and receive access to commercially valuable information.

Read more from PYMNTS

 

Top 10 Country GDP Ranking History (1960-2017)

This video shows the Top 10 countries with the highest GDP from 1960 to 2017.

This country GDP ranking includes countries such as, United States, China, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, etc. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced in a period of time, often annually or quarterly. Nominal GDP estimates are commonly used to determine the economic performance of a whole country or region, and to make international comparisons.

Banks jump on the RMB superhighway

From Banking Technology –

“Banks have been quick to participate in the China International Payment System (Cips) and Sibos has provided the perfect opportunity for them to boast of their involvement. The payments infrastructure, which was launched on 8 October, was described as a “milestone” by Helen Yun, managing director and head of financial institutions China, Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Speaking during the Developing your transaction business with China session on Tuesday, she said the launch came at the right time, just a few days before Sibos opened.”

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CIPS Is Out Of The Crib. How Fast Will It Grow?

From Global Finance -

“As expected it drew some media attention, with the familiar theme that the renminbi—which surpassed the Japanese yen to become the fourth-most traded currency in the world in August, according to SWIFT's RMB Tracker—will eventually overtake the US dollar as the dominant global currency.

The creation of a renminbi-dedicated cross-border clearing system is one pillar supporting the internationalization of the currency. The crucial one, however, is the opening of China’s capital account, a moving target that includes liberalization of the financial sector and cross-border investment flows.

Outside of China, innovation by financial institutions in developing risk management products to align with current and future renminbi demand will also facilitate the currency's growing use.”

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