Chinese authorities are preparing to shut down the country’s bitcoin exchanges, according to people familiar with the matter, reflecting a growing unease with the virtual currency and its recent surge in value, as
multiple Monday reports wrote.
China’s e-commerce behemoth Alibaba Group is reportedly set to open its first brick-and-mortar department store in its hometown Hangzhou next April. The space, called “More Mall,” symbolizes the “New Retail” concept, which has long been advocated by the company.
According to reports in the Chinese media, the new mall will occupy 40,000 square meters of space across five floors. It will curate brands that already have an established presence on Alibaba’s two major online platforms: Tmall and Taobao Marketplace.
Several Chinese cryptocurrency exchanges have delisted markets in a bid to comply with China’s recent clarifications on the legality of ICOs. Yunbi, Dahonguo, and Yuanbao have issued statements addressing the central bank’s new regulations, moving to delist markets that facilitate the trade of tokens issued via initial coin offering.
ICOs allow start-ups to raise investment by selling new cryptocurrencies, which are similar to bitcoin, in return for cash. However, the People’s Bank of China says this practice, which has become popular around the world as well as in China, constitutes illegal fundraising.
The document defined initial coin offerings (ICOs) as an unauthorized fundraising tool that may involve financial scams, the Caixin report noted. The committee provided a list of 60 major ICO platforms for local financial regulatory bodies to inspect.
China’s iron ore futures rose on Friday and were on course to extend their winning streak to a ninth straight week, backed by firm steel consumption in the world’s top user.
China’s infrastructure push, spurred by its public-private partnership (PPP) projects to lure private investment in infrastructure and public utility projects, has boosted steel demand this year, fattening margins at construction steel producers to the biggest in years.
The acquisitive Chinese conglomerate HNA Group pulled an unusual move on Monday revealing its ownership structure after striking multi-billion dollar deals that have raised questions about corporate governance, strategic motivations, financial health and who exactly is calling the shots.
Grab, the ride-hailing company competing with Uber in Southeast Asia, has pulled in $2 billion of new financing from existing investors Didi Chuxing, the company that defeated Uber in China, and SoftBank.
The latest round of funding comes from Japan’s Softbank and China’s top ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing. Grab said Monday that it expects another $500 million will come from other existing and new investors. Its last announced cash injection was in September when it raised $750 million led by Softbank, whose chief executive Masayoshi Son is Japan’s richest person and a self-styled tech visionary.
Global insurance premiums increased by 3.1% in real terms in 2016, a fairly solid outcome in an environment of moderate global economic growth, Swiss Re Institute’s latest sigma report says.
The main cause of the weaker global premium development were the advanced economies but growth in many emerging markets – excluding China – slowed also.
Global life premium growth fell to 2.5% in 2016 from 4.4% in 2015 as advanced market premiums contracted, while life premiums in the emerging regions together grew by more than double the long-term average.
