Mongolia to establish trade missions abroad to boost exports www.xinhuanet.com

ULAN BATOR, Aug.8 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia will establish trade missions abroad between 2018 and 2023 in order to boost exports, according to its Foreign Minister on Wednesday.

Mongolia Unemployment Rate 1990-2018 www.tradingeconomics.com

Unemployment Rate in Mongolia increased to 9.70 percent in the first quarter of 2018 from 7.30 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017. Unemployment Rate in Mongolia averaged 6.81 percent from 1990 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 11.60 percent in the first quarter of 2016 and a record low of 2.80 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Statement by the IMF Mission on the Fifth Review of Mongolia's Extended Fund Facility www.imf.org

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff team led by Mr. Geoff Gottlieb visited Ulaanbaatar from July 25 to August 6, 2018 to conduct discussions on the fifth review of the three-year Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement approved on May 24, 2017, in an amount equivalent to SDR314.5054 million, or about US$434.3 million [1] (see Press Release No. 17/193).

Chinese exports accelerate as U.S. prepares new tariffs in heated row www.reuters.com

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s exports surged more than expected in July despite fresh U.S. duties and its closely watched surplus with the United States remained near record highs, as Washington finalised its new tariff list in a bitter dispute that some fear could derail global growth.

In the latest move by President Donald Trump to put pressure on Beijing to negotiate trade concessions, Washington is set to begin collecting 25 percent tariffs on another $16 billion in Chinese goods on Aug. 23. Both countries have already slapped tit-for-tat duties on $34 billion of each other’s goods.

China has repeatedly warned it will strike back, and has already begun enforcing or is getting ready to enforce its own retaliatory tariffs, saying the United States is threatening the global free trade order with its protectionism.

China’s headline numbers are the first readings of the overall trade picture for the world’s second-largest economy since U.S duties on $34 billion of Chinese imports came into effect on July 6.

China’s surplus with the United States shrank marginally to $28.09 billion last month from a record $28.97 billion in June. Washington has long criticized China’s trade surplus with the United States and has demanded Beijing cut it.

Still, disagreements between the two major economic powers run deeper than just the trade balance and tensions remain over market access, intellectual property, technology transfer and investment.

A weaker yuan, which marked its worst 4-month fall on record between April and July, may have taken the sting out of 25 percent tariffs on $34 billion exports to the United States. However, analysts still expect a less favorable trade balance for China in coming months given it’s early days in the tariff brawl.

“Looking ahead, we expect export growth to cool in the coming months, though this will primarily reflect softer global growth rather than US tariffs, the direct impact of which will continue to be mostly offset by the renminbi’s (yuan’s) recent depreciation,” Capital Economics’ Senior China Economist Julian Evans-Pritchard wrote in a note.

After a strong start to the year, growth in the world’s second-largest economy cooled slightly in the second quarter, partly hit by the government’s years-long efforts to tackle debt risks.

The worry is that the escalating Sino-U.S. trade war, rising corporate bankruptcies, and a steep decline in the value of the yuan versus the dollar could put a significant dent on the economy.

The government has responded by releasing more liquidity into the banking system, encouraging lending and promising a more “active” fiscal policy.

World financial markets have taken a battering in recent months as fears grow that Trump’s “America First” policies could derail a global economic revival.

“STICK OF HEGEMONY”
Chinese state media, reflecting the government’s stance, has said China will not be cowed in the face of U.S. threats.

The latest commentary from state media on Wednesday took a softer line after resorting to personal attacks against Trump earlier in the week, saying China could get through the storm but refrained from directly mentioning the U.S. president.

All China’s main state newspapers published a lengthy commentary by the official Xinhua news agency, entitled “declaration”, on their front pages.

“Certain people go against the tide for their own private ends and go against morality; the barrier of tariffs wantonly rise, and the stick of hegemony is raised all around,” the commentary said.

“Although this may for a moment bring preening with delight, it will make it hard to resolve economic imbalances or out of kilter politics and other deep-rooted problems,” it said.

China has already retaliated against the United States with its own tariffs and proposed others if Washington goes ahead with all its threats.

It has not yet given a date for its previously announced retaliatory tariffs on $16 billion in U.S. goods, which will target commodities such as crude oil, natural gas, coal and some refined oil products.

The latest $16 billion list from the United States will hit semiconductors from China, even though many of the basic chips in these products originate from the United States, Taiwan or South Korea.

John Neuffer, president and CEO of the Semiconductor Industry Association, said in a statement they were disappointed and puzzled why semiconductors remain on the final tariff list.

“We have made the case to the Administration, in the strongest possible terms, that tariffs imposed on semiconductors imported from China will hurt America’s chipmakers, not China’s, and will do nothing to stop China’s problematic and discriminatory trade practices,” he said.

Mongolbank Governor meets World Bank Country Director www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/ On August 7, Governor of the Bank of Mongolia N.Bayartsaikhan met representatives headed by Mr. Bert Hofman, World Bank's Country Director for China, Mongolia and Korea in the East Asia and Pacific Region, based in Beijing.

MBD (B2B) Business offers # 17 www.mongolianbusinessdatabase.com

www.mongolianbusinessdatabase.com is the number 1 ranking B2B portal site on Google's "Mongolia business or/and Business Mongolia" search according to the business visitors access from appx 90 countries as of today (Google analytics report).

Cooperation in steel production discussed with Sinosteel Corporation www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The representatives of Sinosteel Corporation, one of the world’s major steel producers, visited the Erdenes Mongol LLC and got acquainted with its operations.

Mongolia’s immigration officials visit South Korea www.akipress.com

Delegates led by D. Murun, Chairman of Mongolia Immigration Agency, paid an official visit to Seoul, the Republic of Korea from July 29 to August 1 at the invitation of Korea Immigration Service of the Ministry of Justice, Montsame reports.
Alongside seeing activities of Korea Immigration Service, the delegates held several official meetings and exchanged views on multilateral issues, including expansion of further cooperation and improvement of travel conditions of people.

BoM Vice President meets authorities of Mongolian Gold Producers' Association www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Vice President of the Bank of Mongolia (BoM) B.Lkhagvasuren held meeting with representatives of the Mongolian Gold Producers' Association (MGPA) within the framework of the ‘National Gold to the Fund of Treasures’ campaign.

Nearly 30,000 people opened brokerage accounts since beginning of 2018 www.gogo.mn

In the first seven months of 2018, roughly 30,000 individuals and entities opened brokerage accounts. The Mongolian Central Securities Depository reported that domestic citizens account for 99.7 percent of the new brokerage account holders, while foreign citizens make up 0.21 percent of the total share. The number of newly-opened brokerage accounts quadrupled compared to the same period in 2017.