China to announce reforms of Pension System

China is close to announcing long-awaited reforms to its pension system, whose assets are estimated to have already fallen $3 trillion behind projected future payouts, as it seeks to create a sustainable safety net for a rapidly ageing population.

The reforms, which may be announced as early as this month, could include merging separate state and private sector employee pension schemes, increasing coverage and broadening the range of assets pension funds are invested in to boost returns and improve efficiency, said sources with knowledge of the discussions.

As China seeks to transform its economy from the export and investment-led model that drove two decades of growth towards a future based on consumer demand, it faces the huge demographic challenge of an already shrinking working-age population.

By 2035, according a report by Qinghua University released in August, every two to three Chinese workers will have to support one dependent.

The problem of ballooning old-age costs is familiar to many developed countries facing the retirement of the "baby boomer" generation. China is confronting it earlier than most emerging economies due to the one-child policy introduced in 1979.

Experts have been warning for almost a decade that China may get old before it gets rich. The Qinghua report said that China was already 15 years behind in terms of restructuring its pensions.

An unchanged system could face a 68.2 trillion yuan ($11.2 trillion) pension shortfall by 2033, according to a report led by Ma Jun, Deutsche Bank's chief economist for greater China, released in June 2012. The report estimated that by this year projected liabilities would exceed assets by 18.3 trillion yuan.

Source: Reuters

Chinese premier urges Canada to approve investment treaty

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met with visiting Canadian Governor General David Johnston here on Friday and urged Canada to approve a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) as early as possible.

"[We] welcome more Canadian enterprises to invest in China and hope that the Canadian side will accelerate the pace to approve the China-Canada BIT and create favorable environments for mutual investment to benefit the people of the two countries," said the Chinese premier.

The two countries concluded their BIT negotiations last year.

Li said the Chinese government appreciated the Canadian government's pragmatic policy toward China in recent years.

China is ready to stick with the principle of equality and mutual respect in order to tap the potential for reciprocal cooperation in key areas, Li said.

Highlighting the significance of deepening mutual understanding and friendship for the China-Canada relationship, Li said people-to-people exchanges have helped to lay a solid social foundation for bilateral ties and created good conditions for practical cooperation between the two countries.

In 2012, more than 25,000 students were granted offers to study in Canada, which means China is Canada's top source of overseas students.

Li said the Chinese government stands ready to maintain the momentum of high-level interactions and step up communication and coordination with Canada in international and regional affairs to promote peace and prosperity of the region as well as the world at large.

Johnston said the Canadian side cherishes its friendship with China and will work with the Chinese side to give full play to their mutually complementary advantages and expand cooperation in trade, investment, energy, resources, technology, education and culture in pursuit of common development and further improvement of bilateral relations.

Johnston is paying a state visit to China from Friday to Thursday at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jingpin On Friday, Xi also met with the governor general.

Canada and China share energy opportunities

Canadian Governor General David Johnston said on Friday that Canada and China share opportunities of cooperation on energy, and his country welcomes foreign investment in the sector, including from China.

"There are terrific opportunities [of cooperation] between our two nations in the energy sector," said Johnston, who kicked off his state visit to China early Friday, in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

"Canada is rich in energy resources, and is very happy to export them. But another area related to that is the technology that goes with energy," said the governor general, calling for more cooperation in the area.

He said there have been increasing exchanges of that kind "so that China will be able to develop its own energy with shared technology," adding that "someday experience in China will be able to help Canada to develop oil resources in a more effective manner."

According to Canadian research released in March, Canada will soon become one of the world's largest exporters of energy products.

Canada currently ranks sixth in the world in oil production, and was the fifth largest exporter of oil, natural gas, oil products, and electricity combined in 2009, behind Russia, Saudi Arabia, Norway and Iran, said the research, conducted by the Fraser Institute, an independent Canadian think-tank.

"I would anticipate that the next ten years will be very attractive, not simply for the exported energy from Canada to China, but also in the mutual relationships where the technology associated with will help both countries," said Johnston.

"We are in a situation where we welcome foreign investment in our energy development," he said.

On Feb. 26, Chinese oil company CNOOC completed its 15.1 billion-U.S.-dollar purchase of Canadian energy producer Nexen, the biggest overseas acquisition by a Chinese company.

According to Chinese Ambassador to Canada Zhang Junsai, the deal meant energy cooperation between China and Canada no longer lacks major projects, and led to Chinese investment in Canada surge to some 40 billion U.S. dollars.

Talking about bilateral economic cooperation, Johnston said the two nations have built good foundations, "but that's only the beginning...and there is so much to come."

Statistics from Chinese Ministry of Commerce show that trade volume between China and Canada reached a record high of 51.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2012, up 8.3 percent compared to that of the previous year.

This is Johnston's first state visit to China since he took office in October 2010. 

Source: Xinhua

Prévia da inflação oficial volta a acelerar em outubro e vai a 0,48%

No segundo movimento consecutivo de aceleração, o IPCA-15, prévia da inflação oficial do país, voltou a subir com mais intensidade e registrou variação de 0,48% em outubro. Em setembro, o índice havia sido de 0,27% e, em agosto, de 0,16%.

Os dados foram divulgados nesta sexta-feira pelo IBGE. O resultado ficou acima do previsto por analistas, que estimavam o IPCA-15 em 0,42%.

Os maiores impactos vieram das despesas com alimentação, que subiram 0,70% no mês, representando 0,17 ponto percentual, e de habitação, com alta de 0,67% e impacto de 0,10 ponto percentual. Juntos, responderam por 56% do índice de outubro.

A alta dos alimentos ocorre com o repasse dos aumentos observados no atacado. O produto com maior impacto foi a carne, com 0,06 ponto percentual. De acordo com analistas, com o dólar mais caro --mesmo com as mais recentes quedas da cotação da moeda-- frigoríficos priorizaram uma fatia maior de seus produtos para exportação, pressionando o custo no mercado interno.

Além da carne, outros alimentos passaram a custar mais no período, como frango (4,87%), frutas (3,32%) e pão francês (2,62%).

Já no grupo habitação, pesaram mais os aumentos do gás de botijão (2,36%), aluguel residencial (1,02%) e condomínio (0,90%). Já as contas de energia elétricas ficaram 0,14% mais baratas no mês.

No acumulado do ano, o IPCA-15 chegou a 4,46%. Considerando os últimos 12 meses, o índice está em 5,75%. O teto da meta do governo é de 6,5% para o ano.

Com um dólar em patamar mais elevado e outras pressões inflacionárias à vista, como um possível reajuste do preço da gasolina neste ano, analistas avaliam que a inflação fechará o ano muito perto do limite superior da meta e há quem não descarte um estouro do teto de 6,5%.

IBM's supercomputer Watson won over two of the most successful players of Jeopardy

"IBM's supercomputer Watson has trounced its two competitors in a televised show pitting human brains against computer bytes".

"After a three night marathon on the quiz show Jeopardy, Watson emerged victorious to win a $1million (£622,000) prize.

The computer's competitors were two of the most successful players ever to have taken part in Jeopardy.

But in the end their skill at the game was no match for Watson.

Ken Jennings had previously notched up 74 consecutive wins on the show - the most ever - while Brad Rutter had won the most amount of money, $3million (£1.9m).

But the victory for Watson and IBM was about more than money. It was about ushering in a new era in computing where machines will increasingly be able to learn and understand what humans are really asking them for.

Jeopardy is seen as a significant challenge for Watson because of the show's rapid fire format and clues that rely on subtle meanings, puns, and riddles; something humans excel at and computers do not.

On the night of the grand finale, IBM announced a research agreement with speech recognition firm Nuance Communications, to "explore, develop and commercialise" the Watson computing system's advanced analytics capabilities in the health care industry.

The technology behind Watson has the ability to scan and analyse information from many more resources than a human can in a short period of time, potentially aiding doctors in diagnosing patients quickly.

"We can transform the way that health care professionals accomplish everyday tasks by enabling them to work smarter and more efficiently," said Dr John E Kelly III, senior vice president and director of IBM research.

Other possible applications for Watson's technology include dealing with big sets of data commonly found in the legal and financial worlds".

Source: BBC

Finnish firm Rovio has plans for its next game. Angry Birds Go!

Hot on the heels of Angry Birds Star Wars II, Finnish firm Rovio has announced plans for its next game.Angry Bird sGo! breaks out of the bird-hurling formula though: it's a Mario Kart-style karting game

It will be released on 11 December for iOS, Android, Windows Phone 8 and BlackBerry 10 devices, making it Rovio's most ambitious cross-platform launch yet. Like Angry Birds Star Wars II, there'll be physical "Telepods" toys capable of being scanned in to the game, as well as a blitz of licensed products.

Angry Birds Go! will also be Rovio's first game "built from the ground up as a free-to-play title", with revenues coming entirely from in-app purchases and advertising. Neither is new to the Angry Birds series, but until now the game shave only been free-to-play on Android.

Here’s an interesting tag cloud from a recent survey by children’s marketing firm SuperAwesome, which asked British children what present they’d most like to unwrap on Christmas morning:

This is a big part of the potential audience for Angry Birds Go. Squint, and you’ll spot Nintendo, Pokemon and other traditional gaming brands.

These kids don’t come with preconceptions that Mario Kart is the yardstick by which all other karting games should be judged, and even if their Apple-dominated present requests turn out to be wishful thinking, they’ll be able to play Rovio’s next game on their Tesco Hudl, Amazon Kindle Fire, Argos MyTablet or whatever other device ends up in their stocking.

British telecoms regulator Ofcom’s recent Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes report claimed that 42% of British 5-15 year-olds now use a tablet, and 23% of them play games on it. That’s still less than the 60% of 5-15 year-olds using a dedicated handheld games device, but the latter percentage has fallen from 69% in 2012.

Source: theguardian

Tech billionaire Elon Musk and Hyperloop creator pays nearly $1m for iconic James Bond's Lotus Esprit submarine car

''Billionaire tech entrepreneur and investor Elon Musk has bought James Bond's iconic Lotus Esprit vehicle from The Spy Who Loved Me, with the intention of making its movie transformation from car to submarine a reality.

The car was bought for US$ 997,000 at an auction in Londonin September, but the buyer's identity wasn't made public at the time. Automotive blog Jalopnik reported that Musk was the buyer last night.

"It was amazing as a little kid in South Africa to watch James Bond in The Spy Who Loved Me drive his Lotus Esprit off a pier, press a button and have it transform into a submarine underwater," said Musk in a statement. "I was disappointed to learn that it can't actually transform. What I'm going to do is upgrade it with a Tesla electric powertrain and try to make it transform for real."

That may well be a tongue-in-cheek comment, but Musk's determination to tackle daunting technological challenges is undoubted. Besides Tesla, Musk founded payments firm PayPal and space exploration firm SpaceX".

Source: theguardian

Gta Online, il nostro “Romanzo criminale”

Dopo Diablo III e il nuovo SimCity, una cosa è stata chiara: nessun produttore di videogiochi è in grado di reggere l’assalto in massa dei fan ai propri server. Un discorso valido anche per GTA Online, disponibile dal primo di ottobre ma giocabile solo da qualche giorno dopo una serie di problemi che hanno fatto imbufalire i fan di mezzo mondo. Le ragioni? Il troppo successo. D’altronde parliamo della modalità multiplayer di Grand Theft Auto V, un titolo che nonostante sia costato 256 milioni di dollari, ne ha fatturati un miliardo solamente nelle prime 72 ore. 
Scaricabile gratuitamente, GTA Online nelle intenzioni di Rockstar è un prodotto a sé stante, tant’è che la storia narrata non sarà quella di Franklin, Michael e Trevor, ma la nostra. La prima cosa da fare non appena lanciato il gioco sarà infatti creare il nostro alter ego, definendone non solo l’età e i tratti somatici ma addirittura i gradi parentela, nonni inclusi. Da quel momento in poi si verrà proiettati nelle strade di Los Santos, delinquenti di mezza tacca col solo obiettivo di scalare le gerarchie della criminalità organizzata della metropoli virtuale. 
Verrebbe da pensare a una digitalizzazione del Tony Montana di Scarface, ma a differenza del film di Brian De Palma dovremo vedercela ogni volta con altri 15 giocatori, che potranno esserci alleati o nemici. Meglio allora formare una banda coi propri amici per avere qualcuno pronto a guardarci le spalle. Superato l’addestramento iniziale, che ci vedrà correre gare clandestine in macchina o rapinare negozi e distributori di benzina, GTA Online metterà a nostra disposizione missioni di difficoltà crescente che prevedranno anche assalti a furgoni portavalori, attività di import/export (ovviamente di macchine rubate) e riscossione di taglie . 

Corriere della Sera

Italia:Lubec 2013, l’arte 2.0 in mostra

A Lubec 2013, la rassegna internazionale dei Beni culturali e delle nuove tecnologie che si apre giovedì sino a sabato al Real Collegio di Lucca, si parlerà (e si dimostrerà) come l’hi-tech può non solo migliorare la fruizione dei Beni culturali, ma anche diventarne un valore aggiunto. Grazie a sistemi di realtà aumentata, che inseriti negli occhiali da sole o nello smartphone, guidano il visitatore come ciceroni virtuali, per esempio. O, ancora, sistemi robotici per la telepresenza, biblioteche olografiche da sfogliare, rete fotoniche (a Pisa c’è un centro d’eccellenza della Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna) che garantiranno una vera immersione in quei siti archeologici da preservare. 
Oggi in Italia le imprese che operano nel settore delle tecnologie per i beni culturali producono oltre il 10% del valore aggiunto del comparto culturale (circa 12 miliardi di euro l’anno), gli addetti del settore sono oltre 262.000 (l’ 11% dell’intero settore) e il trend è in continua crescita. «Ma siamo ancora agli inizi – spiegano Gaetano Scognamiglio e Francesca Velani, presidente e direttore scientifico di Lubec -. Perché delle circa 900 mila imprese che operano nel settore dei Beni Culturali, con quasi 4 milioni di occupati, soltanto quattro su cinque (l’ 80,9%) hanno inserito nella propria programmazione aziendale l’ innovazione tecnologica». 

Fonte: Corriere della Sera

China's economic growth speeds up? Linda Yueh, Chief business correspondent BBC

"China's economy sped up in the July-to-September quarter to expand at 7.8% year-on-year, according to official gross domestic product (GDP) figures.

That's faster than the previous quarter when GDP grew at 7.5% and the January-to March quarter's 7.7% expansion.

Unless the fourth quarter tanks, it means that the Chinese government will hit its growth target of 7.5% for the year, as the growth rate for the first nine months came in at 7.7%.

There is always a question of the reliability of Chinese figures.

 They are three indicators reportedly espoused by China's premier Li Keqiang as being more reliable? They are gaining prominence as they are being used by banks such as Credit Suisse and JPMorgan as an alternative index for Chinese growth.

The first indicator is electricity usage. The amount of power used by households and firms is a good gauge of consumption and one that is hard to hide. Credit Suisse estimates it's around 9% annualised growth.

The amount of cargo freight is the second measure. Railway cargo volume shows how much has been manufactured and is being moved around the country. But it is an under-measurement of economic activity because it only captures around 40% of GDP - the biggest part of the Chinese economy now is services. Cargo freight volumes are growing at around 21%.

The final gauge is bank loans. How much households and firms borrow over the medium and long-term reflects the amount of demand in the economy for investment.

This is why it's a good indicator of economic activity. But if this is used unproductively to build ghost cities, then it's a different way of over-stating growth. These loans are growing at about 5%".

Source: BBC

Graca Foster takes charge at Brazil oil giant Petrobras

Maria das Gracas Silva Foster has worked for Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras almost all her career.

And now, after 32 years, she is set to take over the running of a company that is crucial to Brazil's economic development.

Petrobras, ranked 34th in the Fortune 500 list of companies, aims to become one of the world's biggest suppliers of oil, capitalising on the deep water reserves found off the Brazilian coast.

Graca Foster, as she is known, will be in charge of an investment budget for the next four years of some $225bn.

She was nominated for the post by Dilma Rousseff, Brazil's first female president.

The two began working together in 1998. When Ms Rousseff became mines and energy minister in 2003, she asked Ms Foster to be her secretary for oil, gas and renewable fuels.

"Her main challenge will be to balance political and technical decisions. A trademark of Gabrielli's administration was that many decisions were political, and this has caused Petrobras's shares to drop since 2010."

Source: Reuters

SPANISH BANKS' BAD LOANS HIT A NEW RECORD HIGH IN AUGUST

Spain's bailed out banking sector continues to show worrying signs with bad loans hitting new record highs, according to data published on Friday by the Bank of Spain.

The so-called "doubtful loans" rose to 12.12% in August, up from July's 11.97%. In absolute terms bad loans rose by €2.01bn to €180.67bn.

The Spanish financial sector received a €100bn bailout from the Eurozone although it has only used €40bn of the funds which were put at its disposal, with the availability of the remainder expected to expire in December. 

The bad loans continued to rise despite the fact that Spanish financial institutions transferred their toxic assets to the so-called "bad bank", known as the Sareb, between December 2012 and last February. The doubtful loans have been on the rise now for six consecutive months. 

Source: LiveCharts

German Coalition talks to turn formal

In the latest step in snail-paced negotiations to form a 'grand coalition' government in Germany, the Social Democrats (SPD) have said they want "formal talks" with Chancellor Angela Merkel's party if the move is approved in a party vote scheduled for Sunday.

Sigmar Gabriel, Chairman of the centre-left SPD, said on Thursday that his party's senior leaders were unanimous in supporting coalition talks with Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) nearly a month after the September 22nd general elections. Approximately 200 SPD members will vote on Sunday whether to start "formal talks" with the CDU. 

If the move is approved by the party, talks would begin on Wednesday to agree on coalition policies and the sharing of cabinet posts. 

"We are convinced that we can find sensible solutions for both sides, and most of all for the country, even on disputed questions," Gabriel said. 

A central demand for the SPD has been the implementation of an €8.50-per-hour minimum wage. Yet, German think tanks warned on Thursday against such a move. In a report announcing reduced growth forecasts for the Eurozone's largest economy, four institutes noted that "a blanket minimum wage that applies to all sectors and all regions would probably have significantly more negative consequences for the labour market than the current sectoral deals". 

However, Gabriel reiterated the need to implement this proposal for there to be a deal. "A general minimum wage of €8.50 is a central demand without which a grand coalition with the SPD wouldn't make any sense," the the chairman said. 

CDU General Secretary Hermann Gröhe appeared to give up some ground, saying that both sides "have a common aim of a sensible minimum wage arrangement". 

Saudi Arabia, declines Security Council seat.

Saudi Arabia, in an unprecedented show of anger at the failure of the international community to end the war in Syria and act on other Middle East issues, said on Friday it would not take up its seat on the United Nations Security Council.

The kingdom condemned what it called international double standards on the Middle East and demanded reforms in the Security Council.

Riyadh's frustration is mostly directed at Washington, its oldest international ally, which has pursued policies since the Arab Spring that Saudi rulers have bitterly opposed and which have severely damaged relations with the United States, Saudi analysts have said.

Saudi Arabia has also been angered by a rapprochement between Iran, its old regional foe, and the United States, which has taken root since President Barack Obama spoke by telephone last month to the new Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, in the highest-level contact between the two countries in more than three decades.

Citing the Security Council's failure to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, take steps to end Syria's civil war and to stop nuclear proliferation in the region, Riyadh said the body had instead perpetuated conflicts and grievances.

Source: Reuters

GE posts strong third-quarter backlog, profit margins.

General Electric Co. on Friday posted a record backlog of orders that the company said positioned it well for 2014, lifting shares and overshadowing a decline in quarterly profit and revenue.

Chairman and Chief Executive Jeff Immelt sounded an optimistic tone to end a week of economic uncertainty during the debt ceiling debate in Washington, saying the conglomerate's results were "very strong in an improving global business environment."

Its backlog for everything from jet engines to locomotives to turbines jumped nearly 13 percent compared with the year-ago quarter. Earnings increased at six of GE's seven industrial businesses, and the company said it was on track to achieve its target for expanding profit margins for the year.

Net income fell to $3.19 billion (1.96 billion pounds), or 31 cents per share, in the third quarter, from $3.49 billion, or 33 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, earnings of 36 cents per share topped the average estimate of analysts by a penny, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue fell 1.5 percent to $35.7 billion. Analysts looked for nearly $36 billion.

Revenue was weighed down by its GE Capital finance arm, which the company is shrinking, and a $132 million toll from the negative impact of foreign currency translation.

Source: Reuters

EU strikes trade deal with Canada, looks to pact with U.S.

The European Union and Canada agreed a multi-billion-dollar trade pact on Friday that will integrate two of the world's largest economies and paves the way for Europe to do an even bigger deal with the United States.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso resolved remaining issues in Brussels, wrapping up talks launched in May 2009 but stalled for months over quotas for Canadian beef and EU cheese.

The deal, the European Union's first with a member of the G8 club of the world's biggest economies, marks a breakthrough for Brussels' free-trade agenda that so far has only achieved smaller deals with South Korea and Singapore.

The accord is expected to increase bilateral trade in goods and services by a fifth to 25.7 billion euros (21.6 billion pounds) a year, according to the latest EU estimates.

Source: Reuters

As U.S. averts default, Japan and China brace for next dollar drama

"Deal or no deal, the U.S. Congress' dance with default impressed policymakers and investors in China and Japan with just how vulnerable their own economic revival plans are to the next political tantrum on Capitol Hill".

"The 11th-hour agreement on Wednesday between Congressional Republicans and Democrats to raise the limit on U.S. government borrowing and end a 16-day government shutdown also averted a default on U.S. Treasury bonds that had threatened the global economy and financial system.

But Congress gets another chance to hold U.S. creditworthiness hostage early next year ahead of a new February 7 deadline to approve a debt ceiling increase.

He and other Japanese officials say they have already developed contingency plans that include flooding Japan's banking system with cash to keep markets functioning however panicked investors become. And analysts say China, whose Communist leaders are due to hold a key policy meeting next month, may step up a push for global acceptance of its currency, the yuan or renminbi, as an alternative to the U.S. dollar in international trade".

"They might actually consider accelerating the process," said Vincent Chan, head of equity research at Credit Suisse in Hong Kong. "You strengthen the case of making the renminbi a genuine international currency, because the Americans are unreliable."

"If China allows the yuan to rise sharply, it could be very risky given the possible asset bubbles in the country," said He Yifeng, an economist at Hongyuan Securities in Beijing.

Japan, meanwhile, is trying to end 20 years of deflation and anaemic growth with a blend of policies named for their chief proponent, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. "Abenomics" relies on reviving domestic consumption and investment in part by weakening the yen, boosting the earnings and stock prices of giant exporters like Toyota Motors Corp and Hitachi Ltd.

A U.S. default would likely prompt investors to buy yen.

"That would undoubtedly pose a headwind against Abenomics, which has much depended on a weak yen and higher share prices buoyed by the feel-good mood it has generated," said Masamichi Adachi, senior economist at JPMorgan Securities in Tokyo.

Source: Reuters