Precious Metals Prices 10.58 p.m. Eastern Time

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Gerdau: Brazil needs Structural Reforms to be competitive

"We see several government initiatives that are positive, such as infrastructure concessions and those that have been taken to make the industry more competitive, with tax breaks on payroll, reducing the tax burden of IPI (Tax on Industrialized Products). This has helped, but for the country to grow at levels much higher than 2% or 2.5%, it needs structural reforms. It has to reduce the tax burden, have more competitive interest rates, invest more in education, make huge investments in infrastructure.


We see that there are funds, plans and all these announced concessions of highway, airports and railways. However, investments end up stuck when executing the bid, in the discussion of marginal returns and rules or time implementation of works and obtaining licenses".

Measures proposed by the steel industry to the Brazilian Goverment

"Increasing domestic consumption of steel, improving the capacity to compete with its peers and reducing the tax burden. Data show that if Brazil's GDP grows 4%, the steel industry is likely to expand 5% to 7%. But it grows very little if it [GDP] stays at 1% to 2%. The multiplier effect of GDP is very large. That is, the country needs to grow to stimulate steel consumption".

"Having that, there must be equality so that we can compete. We have a real interest rate of 2.4% (compared to 1% or 1.5% of our competitors), electricity at $80 per MWh against $40 in most countries), natural gas at $17 per MBTU, expensive and inefficient logistics... Not only companies need to be efficient, the country needs also. The tax rate in Brazil is 35% of GDP, a developed world rate. In India it is 10%, in China is 20% and in Mexico 15%. Brazil taxes as a developed country: Europe, US and Japan".

Excerpts of Interview by Valor International to André Gerdau

Russia threatens travel restrictions for Japanese officials to disputed islands

Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that it will ban visa-free travel for Japanese officials to the disputed Kurile islands if Japan continues to make statements assuming ownership of the islands.

The two countries have been involved in a decades-old dispute over islands north of Hokkaido, known as Kurile in Russia and referred to as the Northern Territories in Japan.

"If for some reason Japanese politicians cannot refrain from making public statements on the subject of the islands after a visit to Russian territory, we reserve the right to limit their participation in such trips," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said in a statement that the current visa-free regime for Japanese officials was a "humanitarian act" that allowed for visiting the graves of their ancestors.

It referred to a statement Japanese Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs Ichita Yamamoto made during a visit to the islands.

It cited him as saying that his view of "the need to return (northern Japanese) territories" was reinforced by the trip.

NewsOnJapan

Japan:Current account deposit at BOJ tops 100 tril. yen

Commercial bank deposits at the Bank of Japan have hit a record high, as the central bank continues its bold monetary easing policy.

BOJ officials say the balance of current account deposits reached 101.24 trillion yen, or about 1 trillion dollars, on Thursday. It's the first time the figure has topped 100 trillion yen.The amount surged by 74 percent from the end of March.
The BOJ began a massive bond-buying program in April to boost liquidity in the market.

Source: NewsonJapan

China's industrial profits rise 24.2 pct in August

Major Chinese industrial firms saw their combined profits rise 24.2 percent year on year in August, quickening from the 11.6-percent rate seen in July that points to further evidence of a firming economy, official data showed on Friday.

The profits of industrial companies with annual revenues of more than 20 million yuan (3.26 million U.S. dollars) hit 483.17 billion yuan in August, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.

In the first eight months, their profits rose 12.8 percent to 3.5 trillion yuan.

Friday's data came after a string of other economic indicators, from factory output and retail sales to foreign trade, showed the world's second-largest economy may be gradually stabilizing after a protracted slowdown.

Among the latest evidence, HSBC's preliminary reading for China's manufacturing sector showed the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to 51.2 in September, the highest level in six months.

Source: Xinhua

Japan's growing outbound investments Lixil buys Germany's Grohe in US$ 4.1 billion

Japanese bathroom giant Lixil Group has agreed to buy Germany's Grohe in a $4.1 billion deal, its second purchase in recent months and one that would turn it into the sector's biggest global player.

The Dusseldorf-based maker of bathroom appliances confirmed Thursday that it was being taken over by Lixil in a buyout which also marks Japan Inc's biggest-ever investment in Germany.The deal comes three months after Lixil snapped up ASD Americas Holding Corp, the parent company of the American Standard bathroom brand, for 53.1 billion yen ($538 million).
It is the latest in a string of overseas takeovers by Japanese firms scrambling to counter a shrinking home market.
Other recent cross-border deals by Japanese firms include mobile carrier SoftBank's $21.6 billion takeover of US-based Sprint-Nextel and Mitsubishi UFJ, the country's biggest lender, buying Thailand's Bank of Ayudhya for $5.6 billion.
Japanese drinks giant Suntory said earlier this month it would buy the top-selling Lucozade and Ribena brands from British drugs firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for $2.1 billion.
The moves are aimed at expanding beyond Japan's borders where firms are wrestling with unfavourable demographics as the population rapidly ages while the birth rate falls.

Japan's e-commerce giant Rakuten launches online video service Wuaki.tv in U.K.

The U.K. online video marketplace has its latest competitor with Japan's e-commerce giant Rakuten launching Wuaki.tv to take on Netflix, Amazon's LoveFilm and Tesco's Blinkbox.

Billing itself as a "game-changer" in the sector, Wuaki.tv, from the company billed as the Amazon of Japan, is a hybrid business model offering users a choice between a la carte rental or purchase of the latest movies and TV series, or a monthly subscription to the Wuaki Selection service, offering unlimited streaming of an extensive selection of movie and TV content, all from a single service.

Wuaki.tv believes this "selection" subscription of movies and TV shows is the key to its success as it offers access to a "hand-picked catalog of blockbuster movies and TV shows that is regularly refreshed each week."

At launch, films offered include Star Trek: Into Darkness, Iron Man 3 and Oblivion in its new releases selection, alongside a dedicated Disney Movies on demand section offering Up, Lady And The Tramp and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, among others.

On the TV front, there are six seasons of Dexter, three of Downton Abbey and eight seasons of Grey's Anatomy among the choices.

Wuaki.tv believes a subscription should provide access to a selection of content that users want to watch again and again -- rather than a high volume of content that is not viewed regularly. This approach, combined with the additional option to rent and purchase the latest blockbuster movies and shows, is what makes Wuaki.tv unique, the company says.

"Our unique hybrid model is what really sets us apart, along with the quality of the content we program every week in the Wuaki selection," said Jacinto Roca, founder and CEO of Wuaki.tv.

Source: NewsOnJapan

U.S. Inminent Swaps Regulation

 According to an article published today in the Wall Street Journal:
"Banks, brokers and investors are warning of potential turmoil in a major part of the derivatives market on Oct. 2, when new U.S. rules kick in governing how instruments known as swaps are traded.

Swaps are derivatives, traditionally not traded on exchanges, which corporations and financial institutions use to protect against or speculate on changes in everything from fuel costs to interest rates. The Bank for International Settlements estimates that there are $633 trillion of swaps outstanding.

The new rules, which were mandated as part of the Dodd-Frank financial regulation law and are being implemented by U.S. regulators, are meant to make the swaps market more transparent and prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis when the market was thrown into upheaval. Under the new rules, most swaps must be transacted through registered venues, routed through central clearing houses and reported to data warehouses known as trade repositories.

Industry officials are waging a vigorous last-ditch lobbying campaign aimed at persuading the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to delay the rules. They argue that the new standards have been applied too quickly and could throw the market into disarray.

The time frame for trading platforms to comply with the rules, and for traders to test new systems, is so tight it could propel trading to lightly regulated jurisdictions and venues that aren't subject to the rules—potentially including those in the European Union, which is lagging behind the U.S. in drafting rules for derivatives.

Many market participants may have to revert to voice trading for a while.

For decades, trading in swaps has been conducted privately. But after the financial crisis, global regulators, backed by the world's 20 economically largest countries, ordered most of the trades onto open platforms and routed to clearinghouses that take fees to guarantee trades. A key goal is to provide regulators with a better view of potential risks to the financial system.

CFTC officials say they could in some circumstances grant waivers for owners of swaps platforms who aren't ready. "There may be some very limited, targeted relief around the go-live date for SEFs," a CFTC spokesman said.

"Market participants would benefit from getting a time-limited extension to allow for a smooth transition to these new execution venues," said Scott O'Malia, one of five CFTC commissioners, in a speech Thursday".

La moitié du capital du CAC 40 appartient à des étrangers

La capitalisation boursière des entreprises françaises du CAC 40 est détenue à 46,3 % par les non-résidents, au 31 décembre 2012. Cela représente 410,4 milliards d'euros sur une capitalisation totale de 886,4 milliards,a indiqué mercredi 25 septembre la Banque de France, ajoutant que "le taux de détention par les non-résidents revient aux plus hauts niveaux observées en 2004 et 2006" [46,7 et 46,6 %].

Les secteurs ciblés par les investissements de ces non-résidents sont la santé, lepétrole, le gaz et les matériaux de base. C'est le secteur de l'industrie qui enregistre la plus forte progression de son taux de détention par les non-résidents, quand celui des services diminue pour la cinquième année consécutive. Parmi eux, 18,9 % sont originaires des pays de la zone euro (contre 18 % en 2011), 15,3 % des Etats-Unis (contre 14,5 % en 2011) et 3,3 % du Royaume-Uni (contre 3,1 % en 2011).

Le Monde

The machines that steal your phone’s data

The National Security Agency’s spying tactics are being intensely scrutinized following the recent leaks of secret documents. However, the NSA isn't the only US government agency using controversial surveillance methods.

Monitoring citizens' cell phones without their knowledge is a booming business. From Arizona to California, Florida to Texas, state and federal authorities have been quietly investing millions of dollars acquiring clandestine mobile phone surveillance equipment in the past decade.

Earlier this year, a covert tool called the “Stingray” that can gather data from hundreds of phones over targeted areas attracted international attention.Rights groups alleged that its use could be unlawful. But the same company that exclusively manufacturers the Stingray—Florida-based Harris Corporation has for years been selling government agencies an entire range of secretive mobile phone surveillance technologies from a catalogue that it conceals from the public on national security grounds.

The Stingray has become the most widely known and contentious spy tool used by government agencies to track mobile phones.

 It’s a box-shaped portable device, sometimes described as an “IMSI catcher,” that gathers information from phones by sending out a signal that tricks them into connecting to it. The Stingray can be covertly set up virtually anywhere—in the back of a vehicle, for instance—and can be used over a targeted radius to collect hundreds of unique phone identifying codes, such as the International Mobile Subscriber Number (IMSI) and the Electronic Serial Number (ESM). The authorities can then hone in on specific phones of interest to monitor the location of the user in real time or use the spy tool to log a record of all phones in a targeted area at a particular time.

The Gossamer is a small portable device that can be used to secretly gather data on mobile phones operating in a target area. It sends out a covert signal that tricks phones into handing over their unique codes—such as the IMSI and TMSI which can be used to identify users and home in on specific devices of interest. What makes it different from the Stingray? Not only is the Gossamer much smaller, but it can also be used to perform a denial-of-service attack on phone users, blocking targeted people from making or receiving calls, according to marketing materials.

The Triggerfish is an eavesdropping device. It allows authorities to covertly intercept mobile phone conversations in real time. It looks similar in size to the Stingray, can also be used to identify the location from which a phone call is being made. It can gather large amounts of data on users over a targeted area, allowing authorities to view identifying codes of up to 60,000 different phones at one time, according to marketing materials.

Source: arstechnica

Google launches Calico, an anti-aging company led by an Apple executive.

Google is taking another moonshot and getting into healthcare research and they're doing it with the help of an extremely high-ranking Apple employee.

Today Google announced it's launching "Calico," a company focused on "health and well-being, in particular the challenge of aging and associated diseases." The initiative will be a long term "moonshot" project involving healthcare and biotechnology (Google basically wants to stop you from dying).

Since the company just launched, there aren't many details yet. The most interesting news is that the man running it is Art Levinson, the current chairman of both Genentech, another biotech company, and Apple. Yes, that Apple. Tim Cook even has a quote in the press release:

For too many of our friends and family, life has been cut short or the quality of their life is too often lacking. Art is one of the crazy ones who thinks it doesn’t have to be this way. There is no one better suited to lead this mission and I am excited to see the results.

Levinson will keep his Chairman roles at Genetech and Apple while running Calico. That latter position he took after the death of Steve Jobs. According to Levinson Calico" is an abbreviation for the "California Life Company".

Source: Ars Technica

La Nanex s'interroge sur une série de transactions suspects,au moment de la publication du communiqué de la Fed

 "La société d'informations financières américaine Nanex s'interroge sur une série de transactions suspectes, qui ont eu lieu, mercredi 18 septembre, au moment de la publication du communiqué de la Réserve fédérale américaine (Fed, banque centrale).

A l'instant où la Fed a lancé son communiqué , Nanex a constaté un pic d'activité anormal sur les contrats de l'or négociés sur le Comex, un marché de dérivés de Chicago.

Entre 600 et 800 millions de dollars (443 et 591 millions d'euros) se sont échangés grâce au courtage électronique à haute fréquence, qui permet à des millions d'ordres impulsés par des algorithmes de tirer partie d'infimes écarts de prix entre plates-formes boursières ou d'anticiper des mouvements de marché.

Ces échanges ont eu lieu en l'espace de cinq à sept millisecondes avant que des transactions équivalentes ne débutent à New York. Or, étant donné la proximité géographique entre New York et Washington, où a été publié le communiqué de la Fed, on aurait dû constater exactement l'inverse : Chicago aurait dû avoir un léger temps de retard sur Wall Street, constate Nanex.

Débat de spécialistes ? Pas tout à fait. Car, la conclusion à laquelle arrive Nanex est que si Chicago a été aussi réactif, c'est que l'information a dû filtrer avant l'embargo qui avait été fixé par la Fed. En clair, on serait en présence d'un délit d'initié sur l'une des décisions monétaires les plus attendues de l'année. "C'est une information explosive et sans précédent dans l'histoire des annonces de la Fed, explique Eric Hunsader, le directeur de Nanex. Il y a deux possibilités et les deux ne sont pas une bonne nouvelle pour Wall Street."

Soit, explique-t-il, les médias, qui ont eu accès au communiqué de la Fed quelques minutes avant la publication, n'ont pas respecté l'embargo, soit il y a eu une fuite dont a profité une société de courtage, en programmant imprudemment ses transactions de façon simultanée à Chicago et à New York. "Ou peut-être les deux", se demande même M. Hunsader".

Source: Le Monde

Velocity app new speed reader

Velocity is a new speed reader app for your  iPhone,iPodTouch or iPad that helps you read faster by presenting one word at a time using a technique called Rapid Serial Visual Presentation. Studies have shown that using Rapid Serial Visual Presentation helps increase reader’s reading speed because it forces the reader to stop reading out loud inside their head (subvocalization), and suppresses the tendency for eyes to backtrack the line while reading and searching for the end of the sentence. Generally a reader’s average reading speed is two hundred words per minute, but Velocity supports reading speeds up to one thousand words per minute.

Source: 9TO5Mac

Apple releases iOS 7.0.2 with fix for Lock screen passcode bypass flaw

Apple has released iOS 7.0.2 over-the-air for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. This is a bug fix release that focuses on rectifying an issue that could allow users to by  pass code unlock on the Lock screen. Another fix in this release is to re-add the Greek keyboard options for pass codes.

iOS 7.0.2 brings iOS 7 parity across all supported devices. Alongside the launch of the new iPhones,ApplerealesediOs7.O.1but these release was exclusive

to the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c.

Today’s over-the-air update requires a WiFi connection to download and install, and the file size ranges from between 17MB and 20MB depending on which device you are using.

Apple has been testing this bug fix release internally for a couple of weeks, and the company seems to also be testing an  update known as iOS7.1 Perhaps this will arrive alongside the new iPads next month. 

Source: 9To5 Mac

How Apple Gets All the Good Apps

Apple tightly controls its software and hardware, and is fiercely competitive in battling its rivals, especially in the mobile market. And yet, while the company never creates apps for anyone else’s mobile system or device, each of its major mobile-platform foes — Google, Amazon and Microsoft — make many of their apps available for Apple devices.
If you buy an iPhone or iPad, you get Apple-written mobile apps and services like Siri, iMessage, iWork, iPhoto and FaceTime, which aren’t available on other phones and tablets. But you can get first-class versions of competitors’ official apps.

So, iPhone and iPad users who prefer apps from other big mobile-platform makers don’t have to switch to an Android or Windows Phone or an Amazon tablet. They have access right on their Apple devices to major apps from these competing platforms. But people with non-Apple mobile devices can’t get Apple’s mobile apps and services.

This is obviously a lopsided situation in Apple’s favor. But it stems from the different business models of the big rivals. Google, Microsoft and Amazon are primarily software and services companies, though each makes some mobile hardware (Google through its Motorola subsidiary). But Apple, while famous for making good software, sells that software almost entirely through iconic and expensive hardware, from which it makes the vast majority of its money.

Although Android devices are the most popular, Apple has sold over 400 million iOS devices. So the Apple market is too big to ignore, even for its direct competitors.

Source: AllThingsD

Alibaba to broaden its online services buying Cloud Storage Service Kanbox

According to an article published today in the Wall Street Journal:

"Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. said it would acquire Kanbox, a Chinese operator of a cloud storage service similar to Dropbox of the U.S., the latest move by the e-commerce giant to broaden its online services.

Alibaba announced the acquisition on its official website Wednesday, but didn't disclose the value of the deal. The Kanbox deal follows Alibaba's other acquisitions earlier this year, including its investment in Sina Corp.'s  Twitter-like Weibo microblog business and mobile mapping service provider AutoNavi Holdings Ltd. Twitter like Weibo microblog.

As more Chinese consumers, access online services from multiple devices, Alibaba and other Internet firms that used to provide services mainly through personal computers are trying to reach consumers across all kinds of devices, from desktop personal computers to television sets to mobile devices. With the Kanbox acquisition, Alibaba said it was trying to provide a cloud storage,that allow users to access content from any device". 

Banks will become the heaviest segment of Brazil's Bovespa stock index

Banks will become the heaviest segment of Brazil´s benchmark stock index when the first revamp in the gauge's 45-year history takes effect next year, marking the rise in importance of service companies in Latin America's largest economy.

The decision by operator BM&FBovespa SA to rejig the index underscores investor pressure for a market gauge that better reflects Brazil's modern economy where sectors like oil and gas hold less sway than they did when the Ibovespa was set up in 1968.

The Ibovespa  currently includes five stocks from four different banks, with a combined weighting of about 15 percent. After the index revamp in May that share will grow to between 20 percent and 25 percent, according to simulations carried out by BB Investimentos and Quantitas Asset Management

Itaú Unibanco Holding SA , Banco Bradesco SA, Banco do Brasil SA and Banco Santander Brasil SA  are likely to get more room due to their large market value and strong trading volumes.

Combined, the four banks are worth about 430 billion reais. Mining giant Vale SA and state-run oil producer Petróleo Brasileiro SA , currently the top-two companies in the 73-stock index, have market capitalization of 186 billion reais and 238 billion reais, respectively.

The changes to the Ibovespa index  will give more weight to a share's free float than its average daily trading volume, boosting the presence of large companies in the gauge and excluding companies whose shares introduce significant short- and medium-term distortions in the market.

Strategists said the changes will favor companies with large market capitalization in the education, mining, financial and consumer goods sectors. Airlines and power holding companies could lose room in the index too under the changes, which will be phased in through the first four months of next year.

Source: Reuters

Petrobras has completed the sale of its assets in Brasil

Petrobras has completed the sale of its assets in the country within its ambitious disinvestment program of $9.9 billion, included in the 2013-2017 business and management plan. Now the company will focus its efforts again on the disinvestment of overseas projects. But the Pasadena and Okinawa refineries will be maintained. The former is embroiled in controversy over an allegedly inflated purchase price. Petrobras CEO, Maria das Graças Foster, said the oil giant is expected to announce a new transaction abroad soon. The executive, however, gave no deadline for completing the deal. 

Source: Valor

Brasil: New Bill of the Mining Code,next headache for Dilma

Every day with its agony - today's is certainly hearing engineering firms and making the necessary adjustments to unlock the package of infrastructure concessions - but the government should indeed increase its stock of aspirin. The next headache is expected to come in October, with the bill of the new mining code, launched by President Dilma Rousseff in mid-June and currently being analyzed by Congress. The project has even lost the emergency-vote character, but it is still a bubble at risk of bursting, when it comes back to the light.

A young politician and full of energy, willing to travel a dozen states in the same month to gather suggestions and criticisms, the rapporteur of the code in the Chamber of Deputies, Leonardo Quintão (Brazilian Democratic Movement Party-PMDB,  Minas Gerais), is considering major changes in the text sent by the government. He wants to ensure "some right of priority" in mineral exploration by companies that have been dedicated to previous prospecting activities and does not rule out incorporating, in his report, setting the royalties rates paid in the industry. It is everything that the Ministry of Mines and Energy would like to avoid.

In the government’s text, one of the most controversial topics involves the establishment of a single license, for 40 years (it can be renewed), which serves both for prospecting and mineral extraction. Today, these two stages are divided. Hundreds of small or medium-sized companies are prospecting-oriented and, in most cases, when they succeed, they sell exploration rights to the heavyweights in the industry. Under the new code, the government's proposal establishes an auction system of areas and invitation for bids, not pleasing smaller players. They fear mining giants will dominate auction and surveying activity will be concentrated in state-owned agency CPRM, in addition an absence of investments in riskier ventures. "The trend is that we’ll disappear from the map" complains Elmer Prata Salomão, president of the Brazilian Association of Mineral Research (ABPM). 

Valor

Brasil: Reform of the service tax

The Brazilian government is working on a comprehensive proposal to reform the ISS – the service tax, levied by municipalities. The major changes will include new rules on the taxation of credit card, health insurance, and leasing transactions, as well as an expansion of the list of services covered by the tax. The increase on the tax base is focused on the tech industry. Brasília also expects to put an end to the fiscal war waged by local governments.

The bill is expected to be sent to Congress by the end of next week, with a request for constitutional urgency, so it could be approved later this year and already be in force by 2014.

Today, the service tax on all credit card, leasing and health insurance transactions is levied by the city where the company that generates the operation is headquartered. The proposal is that the collection happens where the service was purchased


Valor Economico

Precious Metals Prices 8.23 a.m. Eastern Time

Gold Price Futures   3 months    1,330.89


Silver price Futures  3 months        21.78

U.S. GDP growth in 2nd quarter unchanged at 2.5%

The U.S. economy grew an unrevised 2.5% in the second quarter, according to the government's third and final review of gross domestic product. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected GDP to be revised up to 2.7%. Companies restocked warehouse shelves less than previously reported,the Commerce Department said Thursday, but state and local spending actually rose instead of falling. Exports also grew somewhat slower, at 8% compared to a prior reading of 8.6%. Consumer spending was unchanged at a 1.8% increase, though final sales of U.S.-made goods and serviced was raised to 2.1% from 1.9%. Inflation as measured by the PCE index was revised down a notch to show a 0.1% decline. That's the first drop since the last quarter of the Great Recession. U.S. growth is projected to slow to a rate of 1.9% in the third quarter, according to the latest MarketWatch poll of economists.

Source: Marketwatch

U.S. jobless claims fall

The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits fell last week to a near six-year low, a promising sign for the labor market.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 305,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

The reading gives a clearer view of the labor market's health after an update in government computer systems in California and Nevada threw claims data into disarray earlier this month.

The updates created a backlog in unprocessed claims that had been distorting the data, but a Labor Department analyst said both states had reported they had caught up in counting new filings.

The four-week average of new claims, which smooths out weekly volatility, fell 7,000 to 308,000, the lowest level since June 2007.

Source: Reuters

China's economic "expectation management"

Decades after the so-called "expectation management" was born in the West, China is now adopting the concept in economic policies in a flexible way that shows its own characteristics.

In mid-September, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang convened the State Council, or China's cabinet, stressing the importance of enhancing government information transparency so as to stabilize market expectations.

In the first half of this year, the Chinese government carried out a series of new policies to upgrade various industries and made explanations to the public in time through different channels.

As for hot social topics such as money shortage, cutting tax of small-sized and micro businesses, relevant government agencies have also made timely statements to ease market concerns.

In response to the outside worries about China's slowing growth, Premier Li said in July that macro adjustment will keep the economy running within a rational range, that is, economic growth and employment level will not slip below a minimum limit, while price hiking will exceed the upper limit.

Economists believe that China's commitment is a very effective forward guidance and a robust signal which need to be repeated again and again.

To give the public an in-depth understanding of the macro-economic situation, China's National Development and Reform Commission, the National Bureau of Statistics of China, together with other government agencies, opened online chats with netizens.

Premier Li demanded that government agencies increase interaction with the public, not only explaining new policies but also responding to people's attention and concerns

Source: Xinhua

China eases government market intervention

 The Chinese government said on Wednesday that it has revised an investment list and eased administrative procedures to reduce its intervention in the market.

Amendments to a government approved investment list were discussed at an executive meeting of the State Council presided over by Premier Li Keqiang, according to a statement released after the meeting.

The old list from 2004 no longer meets economic, scientific and technological needs, the statement said, adding that revisions are necessary to enable the market to play a more important role.

Following the amendments, projects with sufficient market activity which are in line with the structural adjustment need only be reported to the authorities, instead of requiring government approval.

Among the first batch of projects affected by the amendments was gas power generation and approval has now been either cut or delegated to lower levels. Access for foreign investors in these areas has also been relaxed.

Wednesday's meeting also exempted another 75 items from central government approval taking the total number to 221 since the new leadership assumed office.

Reduced government approval and intervention will not only give enterprises more say in investment but also give the government more space to manage affairs that truly call for management.

Source: Xinhua

PM Abe rides wave of popularity in Japan

Shinzo Abe's first term as Japanese PM ended after just 365 days. But the politician has reinvented himself in his second term and could become one of Japan's most influential leaders in decades, experts say.

When Shinzo Abe left the Prime Minister's official residence in September 2007, he looked a beaten man. He had been ground down by a failure to push through a series of key projects and an inability to fill the large political shoes of his immediate predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi. Dogged by constant in-fighting within the Liberal Democratic Party (LPD), Abe departed citing a debilitating stomach complaint as the main reason for his resignation. On Thursday, September 25, the one-year anniversary of his election as LDP president, he will be in the United States for talks on global security and economic issues. But the 59-year-old will also be riding high in the opinion polls at home. The transformation has been remarkable and so complete that political analysts in Japan say this incarnation of Abe could be the most influential Japanese leader in decades and have a similar impact on the domestic political scene as Margaret Thatcher had on Great Britain in the 1980s. "He has the potential to change Japan just as much as Thatcher did in Britain, but that depends on the LDP allowing him to continue to lead the party in the same way as he has been doing," Steven Reed, a professor at Chuo University who specializes in Japanese political parties and elections, told DW.