From WSJ: EU votes to reduce use of Biofuels

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

"The most commonly used biofuels in the European Union are poised to play a reduced role in the bloc's fight against climate change, after lawmakers Thursday voted to limit their use in the transportation sector.

The European Parliament's environment committee voted in favor of limiting the share of food-based biofuel used in cars and trucks to 5.5% of total consumption. It said the change would address concerns that biofuels of this kind are raising food prices and may not be as environmentally beneficial as originally hoped.

However, it means that to meet its 2020 mandate that 10% of Europe's transport energy comes from renewable sources, the bloc will be relying on a much-faster expansion of electric cars and commercially unproven biofuels made from nonfood crops.

The biofuels legislation now goes to the European Parliament for a vote in September. If approved, it will then be negotiated with the European Council—composed of leaders from EU countries—before it is formally adopted.

The proposed change to biofuels legislation comes as the value of turning food crops like rapeseed, palm oil and sugar cane into transport fuel has become increasingly controversial.

Biofuels were lauded a decade ago as a way of emitting far-less carbon from cars and trucks than fossil fuels. But European Commission studies taking into account how land is used to grow the crops have concluded that there may be little or no benefit.

For instance, large amounts of carbon can be released if native forests have to be cleared to make way for biofuel crops.

Production of biofuels, notably corn ethanol in the U.S., has also been linked to higher food prices, as they reduce the amount of land available for other food crops".

FROM WSJ: China's lower Growth ripples Globally

 According to an article published in the Wall Street Journal today,China's GDP slower growth ripples globally.With winners and loosers."The ones that benefited the most from China's rise are now being hurt. Others, aiming at China's 1.3 billion consumers, are faring better.
 Growth in China, the world's second-biggest economy after the U.S., has been slowing since 2007's peak, but that slowdown has accelerated recently.

China's second-quarter gross domestic product released early Monday showed the economy expanded 7.5% from the year earlier, slower than the 7.7% growth in the first quarter.

China is trying to pull off a tricky rebalancing. It hopes to reshape its economy to be less reliant on construction and heavy industry, and more reliant on consumer spending. This is sparking optimism among industries such as car makers and food producers.

To boost domestic consumption, the government has raised minimum wages to put more money in people's pockets and loosened controls on interest rates to give household savers better returns. It has tilted tax and land incentives toward industries that cater to consumption, such as food and autos, and away from heavy industries suffering from overcapacity, such as steel making and ship building.

China's economic growth is still strong, compared with much of the world. But recent single-digit expansion rates are a notable comedown from a 14.2% peak in 2007.The deceleration is particularly hard on commodities producers—the biggest beneficiaries of China's boom.

China is set to contribute 13% of global economic activity this year, compared with 5% in 2006. So even at a slower growth, China's effect world-wide is significant.

A more serious decline in China's growth rate would reverberate around the world". 

China's National Bureau of Statistics Press Release

China's Economy in the First Half of 2013: Stable and Moderate Growth

Excerpts

"In the first half of 2013, faced with the complicated and volatile economic environment at home and abroad, the Central Party Committee and the State Council have committed to the general tone of making progress while ensuring the stability, centered on improving the quality and efficiency of economic growth, continued to carry out the proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy, created conditions for economic restructuring through reforms and restructuring in turn unleashed potential for economic growth. As a result, the overall national economy realized steady development and grew at a moderate pace.

According to the preliminary estimation, the gross domestic product (GDP) of China in the first half of this year was 24,800.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.6 percent calculated at comparable prices. Specifically, the growth of the first quarter was 7.7 percent, and 7.5 percent for the second quarter. The value added of the primary industry was 1,862.2 billion yuan, up by 3.0 percent; that of the secondary industry was 11,703.7 billion yuan, up by 7.6 percent; and that of the tertiary industry was 11,235.0 billion yuan, up by 8.3 percent. The gross domestic product of the second quarter of 2013 went up by 1.7 percent on a quarterly basis".

2. Industrial Production Grew Steadily with Enterprises Profits Continued to Increase.

"In the first half, the total value added (calculated at comparable price) of the industrial enterprises above designated size was up by 9.3 percent year-on-year, a decrease of 0.2 percentage point than that in the first quarter. An analysis on different types of enterprises showed that the value added growth of the state-owned and state holding enterprises went up by 5.2 percent; collective enterprises 5.0 percent; share-holding enterprises 10.9 percent; and 7.4 percent growth for enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan provinces. The year-on-year growth of heavy industry was 9.6 percent, and 8.4 percent for the light industry".

3. Investment in Fixed Assets Enjoyed Relatively Fast Growth while That in the Tertiary Industry Grew Faster Compared with the Whole.

"In the first half, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) was 18,131.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 20.1 percent (a real growth of 20.1 percent after deducting price factors), which was 0.8 percentage point lower than that in the first quarter, or 0.3 percentage point lower than that in the same period of 2012. Of this total, that in the state-owned and state holding enterprises reached 5,734.2 billion yuan, an increase of 17.5 percent; private investment reached 11,558.4 billion yuan, up by 23.4 percent.

The investment in the primary industry reached 388.4 billion yuan, up by 33.5 percent year-on-year; that in the secondary industry was 7,805.2 billion yuan, up by 15.6 percent; and that in the tertiary industry was 9,938.2 billion yuan, up by 23.5 percent. Of the investment in the secondary industry, that in industry reached 7,657.2 billion yuan, up by 16.2 percent.

4. Retail Sales Kept Steady Growth 

"In the first half, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 11,076.4 billion yuan, an increase of 12.7 percent (a real growth of 11.4 percent after deducting price factors), or 0.3 percentage point higher than that in the first quarter and 1.7 percentage points lower than that same period of last year. Specifically, the retail sales of the enterprises (units) above designated size stood at 5,525.1 billion yuan, up by 10.5 percent. Analyzed by different areas, the retail sales in urban areas reached 9,578.9 billion yuan, up by 12.5 percent, and that in rural areas stood at 1,497.5 billion yuan, up by 14.3 percent". 

China's fixed asset-investment H1 growth 20.1%

China's urban fixed-asset investment grew 20.1 percent year on year to 18.13 trillion yuan (2.94 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2013, down 0.8 percentage point over the first quarter of the year, the National Bureau of Statistics announced on Monday.

China's GDP Q2 growth 7.5%

China's gross domestic product growth slowed to 7.5 percent in the second quarter, down from 7.7 percent in the first quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics announced on Monday.

The country's economic growth eased to 7.8 percent last year, the slowest annual growth since 1999.

China's Industrial Power Challenge

Since it opened in 2006, Rongsheng shipyard on China's eastern coast has always been a symbol of the country's economy.

First, as a monument to China's rising industrial power fuelled by a huge investment boom - a glut of lending and spending on an ever-increasing scale poured into buildings, bridges, homes and industry.

Rongsheng was part of that boom. It is one of China's biggest shipyards, opened in 2006, and its huge gantries and cranes are capable of building some of the world's biggest ships.

A decade ago, from almost nothing, China declared that it wanted to be the biggest shipbuilding nation in the world by 2015.

But today Rongsheng is a symbol in another, much less welcome sense.

Much of the yard is idle and 20,000 workers have been laid off over the past two years.

There is simply not enough global demand for new ships and, as in other industries in which China has over-invested, there is huge overcapacity, a total of 1,647 shipyards.

Indeed, Rongsheng, which is not a state-owned company but is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, has appealed for government help to save it, on top of the many millions of US dollars of public funds it has already received.

An economy based on ever-increasing investment is simply unsustainable, as China's shipbuilding industry starkly illustrates, so the new government has set itself the priority of rebalancing the growth model.

China's Nuclear Power: Although 30 nuclear power-generating plants are under construction. A planned nuclear fuel processing has been cancelled.

Although  according to a government white paper on energy released in October 2012, China has 15 nuclear power-generating units in operation with a total installed capacity of 12.54 gigawatts (GW), as well as 30 units currently under construction that will add another 32.81 GW.

China is working on forming a complete industrial nuclear power system. It has the greatest nuclear power capacity under construction of any country in the world.

A planned nuclear fuel processing project in south China's Guangdong Province has been canceled following local residents' opposition, local authorities said Saturday.

The planned Longwan Industrial Park project, located in Zhishan Township in the city of Heshan, has been canceled, according to the municipal government of Jiangmen, which administers Heshan, and sources from the China National Nuclear Corporation, builder of the project.

Many local residents expressed opposition to the project after it was made public by the Heshan government on July 4, said Wu Yuxiong, mayor of Heshan.

Most of China's nuclear fuel processing plants are currently based in west China, while China's nuclear power plants are mainly based in the eastern coastal region. The cost and inefficiency of long-distance transportation of the fuel prompted the Longwan Industrial Park project, industry insiders said.

There is a relatively greater number of nuclear power plants near Heshan, which therefore has more demand for nuclear fuel. The geological conditions in Heshan are also stable, said Chi Xuefeng, a nuclear expert.

The nuclear fuel will not produce much radiation and the manufacturing process will not create pollution, said Zhao Yamin, a researcher with the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

China is working on forming a complete industrial nuclear power system. It has the greatest nuclear power capacity under construction of any country in the world.

According to a government white paper on energy released in October 2012, China has 15 nuclear power-generating units in operation with a total installed capacity of 12.54 gigawatts (GW), as well as 30 units currently under construction that will add another 32.81 GW.

Chinese Tourism

About 45.64 million residents of the Chinese mainland traveled out of the region in the first half of this year, a year-on-year increase of 18.36 percent, said the Ministry of Public Security on Friday.

The most popular foreign destination was Thailand, and the Republic of Korea followed, according to a ministry statement.

They also traveled a lot to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, the statement said.

Meanwhile, it added, the number of foreigners entering the Chinese mainland dropped by 5.15 percent to 12.77 million. The Republic of Korea, Japan and the United States were the top three sources of incoming visitors.

Foreign travelers mainly entered the mainland through Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou airports

China's State Council has allowed Shanghai to have a Free Trasde Zone

Creating China's first free trade zone in Pudong New Area will top the city government's work agenda for the rest of the year, Shanghai Party Secretary Han Zheng said yesterday.

The central government has allowed Shanghai to run this pilot program, making the city a pioneer in expanding the country's efforts on reform," Han said.

"Shanghai should continue to be a role model in accelerating reforms, and this program will be among the most important missions for the city in the second half of this year."

Green light

The State Council, China's cabinet, gave the green light on Shanghai's application to run a trial of China's first international free trade zone last month.

This is the latest step in a national strategy to open markets wider and build Shanghai into an international trade and finance hub.

In a free trade zone, goods can be imported, manufactured and re-exported without the intervention of customs.

Mayor Yang Xiong said at the meeting that the free trade zone should be built on intentional standards and become a testing ground for China's reform and opening-up efforts.

"We will focus on exploring mechanism innovations, not on giving preferential policies," said Yang.

"The top priority right now is to design a set of laws and rules to regulate the zone when it starts to operate."

Shanghai already has three areas designated as bonded trade or port zones. But the new area - formed from the existing three zones - is expected to be more far-reaching, with trials on free currency exchange, management innovation, trade-related financial services and other measures

Source: Xinhua

China's electricity consumption rose 6.3% year on year

 China's electricity consumption, a barometer of economic activity, rose 6.3 percent year on year to 438.4 billion kilowatt hours in June, an official statement said Sunday.

The National Energy Administration (NEA) said in a statement on its website that the growth rate was 2 percentage points higher than a year earlier and 1.3 percentage points higher than the pace of May.

In the first six months, power consumption increased 5.1 percent from the same period last year to 2.5 trillion kilowatt hours, the NEA said.

The rate was down from a 5.5-percent growth seen in 2012, showing the country's economy may be losing momentum.

Electricity used by the service sector saw a rapid growth of 9.3 percent during first half, while the industrial sector consumed 4.9 percent more than a year ago.

The agricultural sector witnessed a slight drop of 0.8 percent in its power use. Residential power use increased 3.9 percent year on year, the authority said.

China added 32.43 million kilowatts of power production capacity in the first six months, including 8.89 million kilowatts of hydropower and 15.85 million kilowatts of thermal power, the NEA added.

UK Shale gas future.

According to Project Syndicate, in late June, the British Geological Survey announced the discovery of The Bowland Shale, which lies beneath Lancashire and Yorkshire, contains 50% more gas than the combined reserves of two of the largest fields in the United States, the Barnett Shale and the Marcellus Shale.
At the same time, the UK Parliament has approved stringent new measures to reduce carbon emissions by 2020, with the biggest CO2 cuts by far to come, from an increase of more than 800% in offshore wind power  over the next seven years. But offshore wind power is so expensive that it will receive at least three times the traded cost

of regular subsidies. 

South African Gold Miners in trouble.

 The gold mining industry that gave rise to one of Africa's biggest cities is now in crisis.

Costs, including wages, have escalated over the past two decades and the gold itself is getting harder to get to.

Some analysts describe the gold sector as in terminal decline - a sunset industry.

Turbulent times

Crucial wage negotiations start in South Africa's gold mining sector on Thursday, the outcome of which, some analysts say, will determine the future of the whole industry.

Billions of dollars in exports and tens of thousands of jobs are at stake.

Continue reading the main story

It's been a turbulent 18 months for South Africa's entire mining industry, not just gold, with workers across several sectors staging wildcat strikes.

The tensions over the mines has often boiled over into violence, including the most infamous day in South Africa's post-apartheid history last August, when 34 miners were shot dead by police near Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine.

The South African government is so concerned that it tasked Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe to try to broker a stability pact for the industry. The ruling ANC faces elections next year and is keen to avoid another flare-up of violence.

While mining only contributes about 6% of South Africa's GDP (financial services and manufacturing command larger slices), it generates nearly 60% of the country's exports.

Portugal: Opposition Demand to renegotiate bailout terms raises borrowing costs

Portugal's borrowing costs rose to a seven-month high as political tensions grow over the country's bailout terms.

Yields on 10-year bonds hit an intraday high of 7.9% before easing back, while the Lisbon stock market closed down by 1.6%.

On Friday, the opposition Socialists demanded a renegotiation of Portugal's bailout terms.

Investors fear disagreements over the bailout will weaken Portugal's commitment to economic reform.

Socialist leader Antonio Jose Seguro told parliament: "We have to abandon austerity politics. We have to renegotiate the terms of our adjustment programme. The prime minister has to recognise publicly that his austerity policies have failed."

Divisions over the bailout have already forced Lisbon to request a delay in a review of the bailout by its creditors - initially due to start on Monday - until the end of August or early September.

Kazakhstan Government will sell an 8.4% of Kashagan oilfield to China National Petroleum Corporation

Kazakhstan's government announced on July 2 that it will sell an 8.4% stake in Kashagan, the supergiant oilfield development project, to China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). CNPC has prevailed against India's Videsh, the external operations branch of Indian state-controlled Oil & Natural Gas Corporation, in the contest over this stake in Kashagan. The stake's owner, Texas-based ConocoPhillips, is selling it as part of Conoco's three-year, worldwide asset divestment program (by which Conoco has already sold its 20% stake in Russian Lukoil). 

The North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), which is developing the Kashagan field, includes Kazakhstan's KazMunaiGaz, ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Total of France, and Italian Agip (ENI's subsidiary), each with 16.8% of the shares; ConocoPhillips with 8.4%, and the Japanese Inpex with 7.56%. Kazakhstan's government expects commercial production at Kashagan to start by September this year or shortly thereafter. 

Under the consortium agreement, should any shareholder decide to sell its stake in Kashagan, the five large shareholders enjoy preemptive rights to buy that stake, subject to Kazakhstan's approval. In November 2012, Conoco announced that it would sell its stake to India's Videsh for US$5 billion. In January this year, the four major Western stakeholders in Kashagan waived their rights of preemption. Kazakhstan took five more months to deliberate on its decision. 

On July 2, the Oil and Gas Ministry notified Conoco that Kazakhstan has decided to exercise its right of preemption, authorizing KazMunaiGaz to buy Conoco's stake in Kashagan for the same price of $5 billion. In a back-to-back transaction, Kazakhstan will sell Conoco's stake to China's CNPC, for a likely price of $5.4 billion. Conoco has announced that it welcomes this outcome. 

CNPC's entry brings synergies with the oil export pipeline to China, the onshore inception point of which in Atyrau is the closest to the offshore Kashagan field. The pipeline's capacity is being expanded, and certain Kashagan shareholders are considering using it to initiate oil sales to China. 

The Indian company, had it won the contest, seemed likely to ship its share of oil from Kazakhstan via Russia. By contrast, Chinese oil companies in Kazakhstan (CNPC's subsidiaries) are using the Atyrau-Alashankou pipeline from Kazakhstan to China.

The route to China brings at least a degree of diversification to Kazakhstan's oil export options, which otherwise depend heavily on transit through Russian pipelines and ports to international markets. 

Chinese companies operating through joint ventures in Kazakhstan account for 22% of Kazakhstan's oil output, according to Kazakhstan's Oil and Gas Ministry. Some Western companies operating in Kazakhstan, including Total and ENI, are said to be holding talks with China about possible oil supplies to that country from Kashagan's future production. China and Kazakhstan plan to double the capacity of the Atyrau-Alashankou pipeline, from approximately 12 million tons annually at present to 20 million tons annually (or from some 240,000 barrels per day to 400,000 bpd) by 2015. Moreover, with CNPC's entry into the Kashagan project, China's intake of oil from Kazakhstan looks certain to increase in the years ahead.

However, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) plans to boost the capacity of its pipeline, Tengiz (Kazakhstan)-Novorossiysk (Russia), from 34 million tons annually as of 2012 to 65 million tons annually by 2016 and thereafter (or from nearly 700,000 barrels per day as of 2011 to 1.4 million bpd by 2016) . So that this pipeline will transport a 

disproportionately large share of oil production from Kazakhstan.

Source Asia Times

Brazilian Central Bank raises interest rates

"In another step to combat high inflation, yesterday the Brazilian Central Bank raised interest rates for the third time in a row, this time by 0.50%, taking the benchmark Selic rate to 8.5% per year.

COPOM, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank, in a unanimous decision, kept the same open intensity demonstrated at the previous meeting in May. But unlike the last decision, which came out higher than expected, this was entirely within the market's expectation.

For the former director of the Central Bank, Carlos Thadeu de Freitas, the bank's next steps will depend on the behavior of the dollar. If the value of the currency returns to R$2.10 or thereabouts, he believes that just one more increase of half a percentage point will be sufficient to reduce inflation. But if the dollar continues to rise, Freitas says the rate could reach 10%.

the number of economists who project a higher rate has been increasing. They expect further increases in interest rates because, while monthly inflation is weaker, the cumulative rate for 12 months is 6.7%, well above the goals of the CB.

The official target is 4.5%, with a maximum limit of up to 6.5%. The promise of the President of the CB, Alexander Tombini, is to deliver inflation this year below last year's index (5.84%) and that of 2014 below 5%.

To help control inflation, the Finance Ministry has pledged to cut spending and create a public sector primary surplus of 2.3% of GDP this year. The market, however, continues to be skeptical and projects a surplus of only 1.7% of GDP".

Source Folha de Sao Paulo

Precious Metals Quotes

Gold Price          3months Futures         US$ 1,277.11

Silver Price        3months Futures          US$     19.82

London's Heathrow airport closed Boeing 787 jet on fire

Runways at London's Heathrow airport have closed after a fire on a parked Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet.

Arrivals and departures were suspended after the incident at 16:30 BST, a spokesman for the airport said. No passengers were aboard at the time.

Fifty Dreamliners worldwide were grounded in January because of battery malfunctions.

Boeing later modified the jets with new batteries and flight resumed in April.

An Ethiopian Airlines Dreamliner named the Queen of Sheba - the same plane involved in the Heathrow incident - flew from Addis Ababa to Nairobi on the first commercial flight since the grounding.

Pictures of the Heathrow fire on Twitter show an aircraft close to a building and surrounded by fire vehicles. London Fire Brigade said its crews were standing by to assist Heathrow staff.

Fire-retardant foam appeared to have been sprayed at the airliner, but no damage to the aircraft was immediately apparent.

Source  BBC

Government Bonds Quotes

Goverment Bonds			Price Change	YIELD %
U.S. 5 Year			-2/32	1.409
U.S. 10 Year			0/32	2.577
U.S. 30 Year			1/32	3.625
Germany 2 Year			1/32	0.104
Germany 10 Year			21/32	1.564
Italy 2 Year			-3/32	2.140
Italy 10 Year			0/32	4.482
Japan 2 Year			0/32	0.132
Japan 10 Year			-1/32	0.822
Spain 2 Year			1/32	2.074
Spain 10 Year			18/32	4.741
U.K. 2 Year			0/32	0.360
U.K. 10 Year			14/32	2.329

Source   WSJ

From WSJ; U.S. Real Estate developers presale before constructing

Spurred by tight inventory and plenty of interest from foreign buyers, real-estate developers in cities such as New York and Miami are reviving the boom-era practice of pitching new buildings months—and even years—ahead of completion. Miami's Faena House, a planned 18-story tower, is still pouring concrete at the condo's basement level. Yet the project, part of a newly developed strip that will include a five-star hotel and an arts center by Rem Koolhaas's OMA design firm, already has 50% of its 47 units under contract, according to Alicia Goldstein of Faena Group. Buyers are required to put down a 50% cash deposit on the apartments, which range from $2.5 million for a one-bedroom to $50 million for the full-floor duplex penthouse.
Buyers are returning to the market, finding historically low levels of inventories. So once again
presales offerings are increasing,and fixing prices for bidders.

From WSJ; Well's Fargo Mortgage Business weakening

Wells Fargo's  mortgage banking business is starting to show signs of weakening, a potentially worrisome trend for the U.S. housing industry.

Total mortgage banking income at the nation’s biggest mortgage originator slips 3% to $2.8 billion from the year earlier period.

Income from servicing loans was down 42% to $393 million, in part due to the bank’s recent sales of mortgage-servicing rights over the last year.

Meanwhile, the refinancing boom that helped bolster home-loan income in previous quarters has clearly taken a hit. Refinances as a percentage of applications were 54% in the second quarter, down from 69% in the year earlier period.

Total mortgage applications were down nearly 30% from the year earlier period.

China´s mania for english learning

A Chinese professor's blunt criticism of what he believes is an excessive craze for learning English has sparked heated debate among the public.

People's mania for English learning has wasted education resources and threatened the study of Chinese, said Zhang Shuhua, dean of the information and intelligence institute at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Zhang made the remarks at a meeting during the annual session of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the top political advisory body, which closed on Tuesday.

His outspoken words have triggered intense online discussion, with nearly 90,000 comments posted on the topic by 9 p.m. Thursday on Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter.

The subject of English has been listed as indispensable by college and postgraduate entrance exams in China, no matter what majors candidates are applying for.

"The learning of English, a compulsory course for college students, has distracted much of their attention from specialized subjects," said Zhang, adding that many applicants have been denied access to postgraduate education only because of their failed English test.

Source Xinhua

Mexico low interest on Oil and Gas Blocks of Pemex

According to a Wall Sreet Journal Article, State-owned oil monopoly Petróleos Mexicanos failed to attract much interest for an important round of production contracts Thursday, bolstering calls for a profound overhaul of Mexico's energy laws to attract international oil majors capable of unlocking huge oil and gas reserves.

Pemex, as the company is known, assigned service contracts for just three of six blocks at the geologically difficult Chicontepec onshore fields near the Gulf of Mexico. The company was forced to cancel tenders for three other sites, which were the largest of the six in terms of estimated oil reserves.

The bidding was watched closely here because Pemex was offering a new contract model created after a 2008 energy reform, in which contractors are paid on a per-barrel basis plus some of their costs, and offered bonuses for production above a set limit.

213 Overseas Companies set up or expanded in Hong Kong H1 2013

 A record of 213 Chinese mainland and overseas companies have been set up or expanded in Hong Kong in the first half of this year, Invest Hong Kong said Thursday.

Invest Hong Kong's Investment Promotion Director-General Simon Galpin finds the interim results encouraging, saying the department is optimistic to meet the annual target of 330 projects this year as several markets show good growth.

"Our pipeline of prospects is strong, in particular from companies in Chinese mainland and the U.S. which have signaled their intent to set up or expand in Hong Kong," he said.

The department will roll out a global marketing program, called "startmeup.hk", this month to encourage entrepreneur-led businesses to consider Hong Kong as the platform from which they can expand globally.

The 213 companies are from 33 countries. The mainland was the largest source of investment with 51 completed projects, followed by Japan with 26, the U.S. and UK with 24 projects each, and France with 13.

Source  Xinhua

Hong Kong Foreign Currency Reserves

Hong Kong's official foreign currency reserve assets amounted to 303.5 billion U.S. dollars at the end of June, compared to 305.7 billion U.S. dollars at the end of May, the city's Monetary Authority announced Friday.

The total foreign currency reserve assets of 303.5 billion U.S. dollars represent more than seven times the currency in circulation or about 51 percent of Hong Kong dollar M3.

China's Yuan lending increased in June to 860.5 billion

 China's new yuan-denominated lending in June stood at 860.5 billion yuan (139.62 billion U.S. dollars), up from 667.4 billion yuan in May, the central bank said Friday.

The June figure was down 59.3 billion yuan from the same period of last year, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said in a statement on its website.

In the first half, new yuan-denominated loans reached 5.08 trillion yuan, 221.7 billion yuan higher than a year ago, the statement said.

The country's social financing, a measure of funds raised by entities through bank credit and other ways, amounted to 1.04 trillion yuan in June, down 742.7 billion yuan from last year.

M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 14 percent year on year to 105.45 trillion yuan at the end of June.