China moving toward strategic balance with U.S. in Southeast Asia, says Thai legislator

BANGKOK, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- China is not only moving to achieve a strategic balance with the United States in Southeast Asia but is also expanding its trade and investments in the region, including Thailand, according to a ranking member of the Thai parliament.

In an interview with Xinhua on Tuesday, House Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Sunai Julpongsathorn said he viewed Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's recent visit to Thailand as a " significant and historic step"in further strengthening the already strong Thai-China relations.

Sunai said that Premier Li's address before the Thai parliament was a concrete proof of China's strong attachment to Thailand and its desire to expand the bilateral trade and investment opportunities between the two countries.

While the United States has set up the Trans-Pacific Partnership among the APEC countries, including the ASEAN member states, China has promoted the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership with the ASEAN bloc as well, Sunai said.

Sunai said China was obviously moving to keep its leverage against the inroads by the United States in the Southeast Asian region which will become an ASEAN Economic Community in 2015.

"While China is moving to keep the strategic balance with the U. S., the former will enormously benefit from economic dealings with the APEC bloc in which Thailand will be a leading member. In particular, Thailand has a lot of farm goods such as rice and rubber to offer to China as one of the world's biggest agricultural markets, which has some 1,300 million consumers," he said.

Premier Li and his Thai counterpart Yingluck Shinawatra signed an MOU for barter trade and economic cooperation in which Thailand would offer Thai rice and rubber to China and China in return would contribute to the realization of an ambitious Thai high- speed rail project, for which part of an estimated 73 billion U.S. dollars in loan money will be earmarked.

China has offered to increase the volume of Thai rice that it purchases from Thailand from 200,000 tons to 1 million tons plus 200,000 tons of Thai rubber per year.

"We do not only regard the Chinese as a world superpower but our brothers with whom we could practically keep in touch. Remarkably, the high-speed train project is geared toward regional connectivity of which China and Thailand are the major partners," he said.

China plans to transport tourists and goods aboard high-speed trains to Thailand's Nong Khai province via Vientiane in Laos across the international Mekong River. The planned international route will have access to the Thai capital city through Nakorn Ratchasima province, viewed as the gateway to the northeastern Thai region.

Source: Xinhua

Brazilian oil funding competing with shale boom Investment

  In a report published by the Wall Street Journal,"protesters tried to block the latest auction of an oil license there. But it isn't the bidders trying to get access to Brazil's energy riches that should worry irate citizens. It is the ones who aren't.
Few Western oil firms even took part in this auction. It is telling that the winning bid came from a consortium of five members and that it was the only bid. Little wonder its proposed allocation of oil to the government came in at the minimum level.
Brazil recent oil discoveries should thrill Oil majors, but the level taxation for the oil industry in Brazil is high vis a vis other countries fiscal regimes.
"Moreover, another rival has re-emerged to the north. The shale boom has pulled investment dollars from even committed globetrotters like Exxon Mobil back to more familiar territory: The U.S. Investment there topped $148 billion last year, up 67% since 2010, according to IHS Herold. That is about double the rate of growth elsewhere". 

Corning to buy out Samsung from LCD JV

Corning Inc said it would buy out Samsung Display's stake in their LCD glass joint venture in a deal that could see the Samsung Electronics Co Ltd subsidiary take a 7.4 percent share in the Gorilla Glass maker.

The deal includes a new 10-year LCD display glass supply agreement between Corning and Samsung Display -- which makes LCD panels for tablets and televisions -- that will add about $2 billion to Corning's annual sales.

Corning shares jumped about 26 percent to $19.30 in extended trading on Tuesday.

Samsung will receive convertible preferred shares with a face value of $1.9 billion and will make an additional $400 million investment in Corning by subscribing to new convertible preferred shares.

If the preferred shares are converted, Samsung would get a 7.4 percent stake in Corning. The shares are convertible at $20 per share after seven years, with Corning having the option to force conversion if its stock goes above $35.

Samsung owns 43 percent of the Korea-based joint venture, Samsung Corning Precision Materials Co Ltd (SCP), which was set up in 1995.

Source: Reuters

JPMorgan close to $6 billion settlement with investors

JPMorgan Chase & Co is nearing an agreement worth close to $6 billion (3.7 billion pounds) with a group of institutional investors to settle claims over shoddy mortgage-backed securities issued in the run-up to the financial crisis, a source familiar with the talks said.

Representatives of JPMorgan and the investors met on Friday to discuss the settlement, though the two sides have not yet agreed to formal terms, the source said.

The potential deal is separate from the preliminary $13 billion settlement JPMorgan has reached with the U.S. government that would resolve a raft of civil actions brought by several enforcement agencies.

The group of more than a dozen bondholders includes BlackRock Inc, Allianz SE's Pacific Investment Management Co and Neuberger Berman Inc, the source said.

Source: Reuters

Asia shares rise, dollar pressured after jobs data

Asian shares gained and the dollar was near a two-year low against the euro on Wednesday after disappointing U.S. jobs data firmly pushed expectations for the tapering of Federal Reserve stimulus into next year.

Australian shares were up 0.3 percent at five-year highs. The Australian dollar jumped about a quarter of a U.S. cent after data showed the consumer price index rose more than expected, reducing expectations for another interest rate cut by the central bank.

U.S. nonfarm payrolls increased by 148,000 workers in September, less than expected. While the employment gain in August was revised up, the July figure was revised down to be the weakest since June 2012.

The report suggested the economy was losing momentum even before the U.S. fiscal standoff that partially shut down the government for more than two weeks, lending credence to the central bank's decision to hold off on reducing its stimulus.

Nine of 15 U.S. primary dealers surveyed by Reuters on Tuesday expect the Fed to begin tapering its $85 billion-a-month bond-buying programme in March.

 U.S. crude surplus helped push the U.S. crude price down about 0.1 percent to $98.24.

Gold was nearly unchanged at $1,339.55 an ounce, having risen to a four-week high after the payrolls data.

Source: Reuters

Japan: Teachers work longer than 10 year ago

A national confederation of teachers' unions says teachers in Japan are working as many as 20 hours more overtime per month than a decade ago.

The All Japan Teachers' and Staffs' Union conducted a survey in October last year. It received responses from about 6,900 teachers in 39 prefectures. A similar survey is conducted every 10 years.The most recent survey showed elementary school teachers work an average of around 68 hours overtime per month, 17 hours more than 10 years ago.
The average amount of overtime for junior high school teachers is about 91 hours, up 23. For senior high school teachers, it is about 79 hours, which is an increase of 20.
The poll also showed school teachers work 16 hours a month on Saturdays and Sundays.

Source:NewsOnJapan

Japan ruling bloc approves state secret protection bill

Japan's Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling bloc approved a draft bill on Tuesday that is designed to improve protection of state secrets.

At a meeting of policy leaders, the LDP and its partner, New Komeito, endorsed the draft that would impose harsher punishments on civil servants who leak information to be designated as special state secrets.The government is expected to formalize the bill at a cabinet meeting Friday and submit it to the ongoing extraordinary session of the Diet soon later.

Source:NewsOnJapan

China, India to boost cooperation

China and India will sign an array of documents during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's upcoming visit to China to boost bilateral ties, said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying here Tuesday.

This is the first time that the two heads of government have completed exchange of visits within one year since 1954, Hua said at a daily press briefing.

China attaches great importance to Singh's visit, she said.

China hopes to have in-depth exchange of views, expand substantial cooperation and enhance communication and coordination on international and regional issues through the visit so as to ensure the long-term, healthy and stable development of bilateral ties, said the spokeswoman.

Source: Xinhua

A group of 5 Japanese companies will join forces to acquire a stake in a major Brazilian shipbuilder.

A group of 5 Japanese companies will join forces to acquire a stake in a major Brazilian shipbuilder.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Imabari Shipbuilding and 3 other Japanese companies will acquire a 30-percent stake in Ecovix for around 300 million dollars.The move is an attempt by the firms to gain a foothold in the development of offshore oil fields in the South American country.

Source:NewsOnJapan

China: Japan's talk of external threat is an excuse to expand military capacity drawing high attention from Asian Neighbors and International Community

 China on Tuesday said Japan's move to use the so-called "external threat" as an excuse to expand its military capacity raises concern and alertness.Japan has deliberately played up the so-called "external threat" and artificially incurred tension and confrontation so as to take advantage of this excuse to continuously expand and upgrade its military capacity, said Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

"Its true intentions cannot help but raise concern and alertness of the international community," she said at a regular press briefing, when responding to a question about Japan's alleged plan to take down foreign drones entering its airspace.

Kyodo news agency quoted "a source close to the government" as saying Japan plans to shoot down foreign drones that intrude into Japanese airspace if warnings to leave are ignored.

The report says Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe issued his approval on Oct. 11 when Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera briefed him on the plan.

Japanese media reported in September about a so-called Chinese drone approaching the disputed Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.

"The Diaoyu Islands are an inherent part of Chinese territories," Hua said at the press briefing.

"The Chinese side has the resolution and capacity to safeguard national territories and sovereignty and will resolutely react to aggravated provocative actions from the outside," she said.

Hua said due to historical reasons, Japan's policy moves in the areas of military and security have always drawn high attention from its Asian neighbors and the rest of the international community.

Source: Xinhua

Apple unveils iPaad Air and the Retina iPad mini

Apple Inc will give away operating and work software free to Mac computer users, challenging Microsoft Corp's near-stranglehold on personal computing as the latter starts to make inroads into the mobile market.

Apple revealed the surprise offer, available to all users of MacBooks and Mac computers, on Tuesday at the same time as it unveiled a slimmer, faster iPad Air and a new line-up of Macs in time for the holidays.

Its Mac operating system and iWork software suite, which compete with Microsoft's Excel, Word and other applications, will now be offered free to all users.

By giving away its Mac operating system Apple is taking on Microsoft's predominant Windows platform, installed on an estimated eight to nine out of 10 of the world's computers and one of its most profitable cash cows.

"We want our customers to have our latest software."

Apple may be trying to safeguard its grip on mobile software as Microsoft begins to make inroads into tablet computing with its Windows-powered Surface Pro. The advantage of those devices, especially to enterprise customers, is their ability to run Microsoft applications, such as Word or Excel.

Apple is going after the entire tablet computing market, trying to appeal to both consumer and enterprises, and is likely wary of Microsoft making a play for the high-end of that market with its Surface Pro than cheaper devices that run on Google Inc's Android software.

Apple's new iPad Air - its full-size tablet - is about 20 percent thinner than the previous generation of tablets, weighs one pound and starts at $499 (307.44 pounds). But the new tablets would face stiff competition, with Microsoft, Nokia and Amazon.com Inc all plugging rival devices in coming months.

Source: Reuters

China, Russia to implement strategic projects in science, technology

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang on Tuesday proposed China and Russia to deepen cooperation in science and technology and carry out strategic cooperative projects, such as the heavy helicopter, wide-body jet and nuclear energy.

Wang made the remarks when addressing the opening ceremony of the 8th China-Russia Business Summit Forum in Beijing.

Wang said 2013 is a pivotal and fruitful year for China-Russia relations, featuring high-level political relations, steady development of bilateral trade, effective investment cooperation, successful energy cooperation and increasingly improved cooperative mechanism.

To expand China-Russia pragmatic cooperation, the vice premier suggested the two sides to optimize their trade structure, expand the items of import and export goods, and create new growth areas, such as high-tech products and agricultural products.

He also encouraged the two countries to expand local cooperation, and push forward the construction of transportation infrastructure, such as transboundary oil and gas pipelines, road and bridge, optical communication cables, and transmission grids.

Russian Deputy Prime Minster Dmitry Rogozin also attend the opening ceremony of the forum.

Source: Xinhua

Japan, EU start 3rd round of EPA talks

Japan and the European Union launched the third round of talks on concluding an economic partnership agreement in Brussels on Monday, with discussions seen focusing on liberalization of goods and services trade and procurement of railway equipment.

Participants are expected to discuss core issues in the five-day free trade negotiations through Friday, EU officials said.After the first round of talks held in Brussels in April, Japan and the EU exchanged drafts of clauses for the envisaged EPA drawn up by each side in the second round of talks in Tokyo in June.

NewsOnJapan

Japan: Top TPP negotiators seen holding meeting in Nov.

Top working-level negotiators from the 12 countries involved in Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade talks are likely to hold a meeting in November, Japanese government officials said Monday.

Kazuhisa Shibuya, head of the government's headquarters on issues related to the TPP negotiations, and other officials revealed this during a meeting with agricultural groups and other interested parties.

At their meeting on the Indonesian island of Bali on Oct. 8, leaders of the 12 countries, including Japan and the United States, reaffirmed their resolve to conclude the negotiations by the end of this year.

At Monday's meeting, the government officials emphasized that there is no change in Tokyo's stance of proceeding with the TPP negotiations while bearing in mind the importance of protecting Japan's agriculture.

Source: NewsOnJapan

Tim Cook Confident about Apple products and innovation

"Apple Inc will give away its Macintosh operating software for free starting Tuesday, a move aimed at challenging Microsoft Corp's stranglehold on personal computing systems. Apple announced the surprise offer, which will be available to all users of Apple MacBooks and Mac computers, at a product event on Tuesday at which it also unveiled a new range Mac computers, including a new Mac Pro.

The company is expected to also introduce slimmer, faster iPads in time for the holidays at the event, which is still going on in San Francisco. The new tablets would face stiff competition, with Microsoft, Nokia and Amazon.com Inc all plugging rival devices in coming months.
Apple, which jumpstarted the tablet computing market in 2010 with the first iPad, has already come under increasing pressure from cheaper devices ranging from Amazon's Kindle Fire to Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's 005930.KS Note".

But while Apple is ceding market share to rivals, its superior library of apps and content should safeguard its lead for years to come, analysts say. Longer term however, investors hope to see real device innovation from a company that has not unveiled a new breakthrough product in years.
"Our competition is different: they're confused," Cook told media and technology executives at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center. "Now they're trying to make PCs into tablets and tablets into PCs. Who knows what they'll do next?"

"We have a very clear direction and a very ambitious goal. We still believe deeply in this category and we're not slowing down on our innovation."

Source: Reuters

China Mobile's Profit Slips as It faces stiff competition

  According to a report published today in the Wall Street Journal: "China Mobile Limited  nine-month net profit fell 1.9%, reflecting stiff competition and the carrier's higher network investments and handset subsidies.
The world's largest mobile carrier by subscribers has been racing with China Telecom Corp. and ChinaUnicom Ltd.  to boost revenue per user by adding customers to its third-generation mobile services, which offer faster data speeds at a higher price than 2G services. But China Mobile's dependence on homegrown technology has put it at a disadvantage by limiting its access to popular 3G smartphones.

To maintain its dominant market share, China Mobile is plowing almost $7 billion this year into building a speedier 4G network. But the increased network investments and higher handset subsidies have raised concerns among investors over profitability.

The expected introduction of the iPhone to China Mobile's lineup could help ease those concerns. Chinese regulators last month gave Apple Inc.the final license necessary for the iPhone to run on China Mobile's network. China Unicom and China Telecom have sold iPhones for several years.

China Mobile's net profit for the nine months through September was 91.5 billion yuan ($15 billion), down from 93.31 billion yuan a year earlier.

China Mobile has the most 3G users in China, but a surge in the use of some smartphone applications has undercut revenue from text and voice services.

Analysts said China Mobile is unlikely to offer the iPhone until it receives permission for its 4G network, which would offer a better user experience. China's telecommunications regulator is expected to issue licenses to China Mobile and its smaller rivals for the next generation of high-speed mobile technology by year-end".

Tumbling Indonesian tin exports could short-circuit electronics industry

"Tin buyers are becoming increasingly nervous about securing enough of the metal in coming months to supply industries such as electronics, after new Indonesian trading rules cut shipments by the world's biggest exporter".

"More than half of global tin goes into solder used in electronics, to make circuit boards for products ranging from smartphones to tablets produced by firms such as Blackberry  and LG Electronics. Tin is also widely used in food packaging as a protective coating to line containers.

Fearing disruption, tin suppliers snapped up record Indonesian stocks in the first half of the year, and have ample metal on hand for the next one to two months, traders said.

Further out, however, there could be a threat to the operations of electronics makers if export problems persist.

"The biggest issue is for the consumers in Asia, where Indonesia is two thirds of supply in some cases," said Peter Kettle of global industry group ITRI.

"For somewhere like Japan or Korea,Indonesia is absolutely critical and there is just not enough tin around from other sources to replace it," he added.

A major Japanese solder maker, which buys tin from Indonesia, said it was carefully watching how things develop.

Indonesia brought in new rules on August 30 to force tin ingot shipments to trade via a local exchange before export. The new policy aimed at giving Jakarta greater influence over prices has slashed trade and meant that the long-established process of buyers and sellers agreeing term deals has stalled.

PT Timah TINS.JL, Indonesia's biggest tin exporter, in late August declared force majeure on shipments as its buyers had not joined the Indonesian Commodity and Derivative Exchange (ICDX), the only approved exchange for tin trade.

The stand-off with tin buyers, some of whom are reluctant to use an exchange still establishing itself, helped push September exports down to 786 tonnes last month, from more than 6,000 tonnes in August, the lowest since early 2007.

Benchmark tin prices on the London Metal Exchange have climbed by more than 10 percent since late August as buyers stocked up due to worries about Indonesian supply, helping make it the best performer in a weak base metals complex this year.

Some buyers are waiting things out in the hope that Indonesia relaxes rules to revive exports, to help cash-starved producers.

"People are worried about it but they're not panicking yet because recent history suggests that the Indonesians will find a way -- it's just a question of how long that takes," said Leon Westgate at Standard Bank in London".

Alibaba: NYSE, Nasdaq Approve Partnership Structure Proposal

  According to the Wall Street Journal: "The next big initial public offering on the horizon is looming in the East, as Alibaba Group Holdings cleared a key hurdle to list its shares in the U.S."

The potential listing is coveted by U.S. exchanges even as investor advocates and other observers are highlighting the Chinese company's unique governance structure.

On Monday, Alibaba said it received written confirmation from the NYSE and the Nasdaq, that it could list its shares on those platforms. The clearance from the U.S. came weeks after discussions with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange ended after the exchange wouldn't allow Alibaba to have a group of partners nominate the majority of directors on its board, according to people familiar with the talks.

That likely would not be an obstacle for a U.S. listing. Securities lawyers said the e-commerce giant could qualify for a foreign-company exemption that would let former and current executives exert such influence over the company's board.

Alibaba hasn't decided where to list its shares and it hasn't appointed any banks as underwriters for its IPO, according to an Alibaba spokesman.

Brazil: Success in the Libra Auction

Officials say Libra holds up to 12 billion barrels, which would potentially make it one of the world's largest fields. "This is a huge block," said André Araújo, Shell Brasil's president.

Underscoring the oil's importance for Brazil, the question of how best to develop the new fields has become highly charged. As officials read the results inside a posh Rio hotel, police fired tear gas at hundreds of protesters, including oil workers and nationalist student groups, who opposed the auction as a giveaway to foreign corporations.

President Dilma Rousseff defended the auction results in televised remarks. "The Libra auction is a landmark in the history of Brazil, transforming a limited resource, oil, into an undebatable gain, that is investment in education," she said late Monday.

U.S.: THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- SEPTEMBER 2013

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 148,000 in September,and the            unemployment rate
was little changed at 7.2 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported

today

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (7.1 percent)
adult women (6.2 percent), teenagers (21.4 percent), whites (6.3 percent), blacks(12.9 percent),
and Hispanics (9.0 percent) showed little or no change in September. The jobless rate for
Asians was 5.3 percent (not seasonally adjusted), little changed from a year earlearlier. 
In September, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more)
was little changed at 4.1 million. These individuals accounted for 36.9 percent oof the
unemployed. The number of long-term unemployed has declined by 725,000 over the  past
year.
Both the civilian labor force participation rate, at 63.2 percent, and the       employment-
population ratio at 58.6 percent, were unchanged in September. Over the year, the labor
force participation rate has declined by 0.4 percentage point, while the         employment-
population ratio has changed little.
 The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes        referred to
as involuntary part-time workers) was unchanged at 7.9 million in September.     These
individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or      because they
were unable to find a full-time job. 

In September, 2.3 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force,   down from
2.5 million a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These        individuals
were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked  for a
job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they
had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. (See table A-16.)

Among the marginally attached, there were 852,000 discouraged workers in         September,
essentially unchanged from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.)
Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they      believe
no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.5 million persons marginally     attached
to the labor force in September had not searched for work for reasons such as    school
attendance or family responsibilities.