Russian firm seals energy exploration deal to drill South African shelf www.rt.com

Russia’s geological research company Rosgeo and South African national oil company PetroSA have signed an offshore drilling agreement on the sidelines of the of the BRICS Summit in Xiamen, China.

The deal is worth an estimated $400 million over the next 10 years.

Finland to get rid of coal by 2030 www.mining.com

The director general of Finland’s energy department, Riku Huttunen, announced that the country will introduce legislation to phase out coal and increase carbon taxes.

Boeing declares victory in Airbus subsidies dispute www.bbc.com

US aircraft manufacturer Boeing has won a victory in a long-running dispute with European rival Airbus.

The World Trade Organization has reversed on appeal a ruling that Boeing received some state aid to help build its newest aircraft, the 777X.
"The WTO has rejected yet another of the baseless claims the European Union has made," Boeing said in a statement.
However, Airbus said ‎"the 'game' is far from over" as other complaints over alleged aid are still to be resolved.
The two aviation giants have been locked for years in a sprawling set of disputes at the Geneva-based WTO.
Last year, the WTO backed a European Union complaint that Boeing got tax breaks to site a production facility in Washington state.
The US, acting on behalf of Boeing, appealed the decision and secured an outright victory that is not subject to further appeal, the WTO ruling said.
According to Airbus, Washington state has given Boeing tax breaks worth about $9bn (£7bn) and which were sufficient to shut out imports.
However, Boeing said the tax breaks amounted to no more than $1bn.
The WTO's appeals body has now ruled that the tax breaks were not explicitly to prevent free trade, removing them from its most severe category of banned aid known as "prohibited" subsidies.
However, the trade dispute is not over. Brussels and Washington have two larger cases pending at the WTO, centred on multiple claims and counter-claims about illegal subsidies for their respective aviation industries.
Boeing's general counsel, J. Michael Luttig, said in a statement: "The latest of the false claims Airbus and its government sponsors have made has now been rejected by the WTO.
"The EU and Airbus, meanwhile, continue to be in flagrant breach of WTO rulings and must eliminate the massive illegal subsidies the WTO said a full year ago had not been addressed, or risk US sanctions against European exports."
Airbus, which estimates it has lost $100bn in sales because of Boeing subsidies, said: "Boeing illegal subsidies are still illegal and need to be removed. The 'game' is far from over."

BoM issues 1-week bills www.mongolbank.mn

The Bank of Mongolia traded 597.2 billion MNT worth 1-week maturity central bank bill (“CBB”), with weighted average yield of 12.0 percent per annum. /For previous auctions click here/.

New S Korean Gov't Plans to Extend Economic Ties With Russia, China, Mongolia www.sputniknews.com

VLADIVOSTOK (Russia) (Sputnik) — The new South Korean administration is planning to enhance the country's economic ties with a number of states to the north, such as China, Mongolia as well as with the Far Eastern regions of Russia, the South Korean deputy prime minister said Monday.

"The new South Korean administration is planning now to actively promote a new policy on economic cooperation in the northern direction. Widening economic, person-to-person and trade ties especially with the Far East, as well as with China and Mongolia," Kim Dong-yeon said during the 16th session of the Russian-South Korean joint commission on economic, scientific and technological cooperation.

The official, who is also South Korea's minister of strategy and finance, added that new opportunities were opened up after the new administration came to power in Seoul.

"The Russian government is actively implementing its new eastern policy. That's why we can say that we have a common goal to explore and to develop Russia's Far East," the deputy prime minister said.
The minister added that Russia's Far Eastern regions are highly attractive for investments, expressing hope for investment growth in future.

"I highly appreciate and have a positive view on the investment attractiveness of the Far East. Of course, we had only good results on investments to the Far East, but I expect that they would be better in future," Kim said.

According to the South Korean official, the representatives of his country are interested in investments in Russia's Far East.

"The [South] Korean government and companies show major interest in the development of the Far East and I hope that we will see the growth of investments," Kim added.

The official added that the markets of South Korea had not been affected by the recent missile launch carried out by North Korea, because of the stable situation in Seoul's economy.

"Despite the problems stemming from the recent North Korean launch, it has not had a significant impact on [South] Korea's market situation. Such situation takes place, because the basis of the [South] Korean economy is very stable and because the Korean government manages the external risks in a very effective way," Kim told reporters after the 16th session of the Russian-South Korean joint commission on economic, scientific and technological cooperation in the Russian city of Vladivostok.

Seoul was ready to respond to any potential scenarios, but it was too early to implement more tough measures to influence markets, Kim Dong-yeon said.

"We consider that the North Korean nuclear tests in the short-run would affect [South] Korea's economy," the official said, adding that Seoul would take measures to stabilize markets if necessary.
The tensions on the Korean peninsula have escalated in recent months due to a series of missile launches and nuclear tests conducted by Pyongyang in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

Russia's Rosneft inks oil production & supply deal with China www.rt.com

Russian oil major Rosneft has announced a strategic cooperation agreement and long-term oil supply contract with CEFC China Energy Company. The deal was sealed on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Xiamen, China.

140,000 smartphones, tablets hacked for attacks www.nhk.or.jp

NHK has learned that 140,000 smartphones and tablets across the globe have been hacked in order to launch major cyberattacks against firms.

Four things to watch at the Brics summit www.bbc.com

The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are meeting amid heightened geopolitical tensions.
The summit of the so-called Brics nations brings together the five fast-growing economies, who are seeking a greater say in world affairs.
Economic ties will top the agenda at the three-day gathering in Xiamen, China which began Sunday.
But North Korea's nuclear test and a border standoff between China and India could also colour discussions.
So what are the four key things to watch out for at this meeting?
1. 'Growing the pie' without 'touching the cheese'
While US President Donald Trump has pushed a protectionist trade agenda, pulling the US out of the Trans Pacific Partnership and renegotiating the North America Free Trade Agreement, China is striking a very different tone.
Chinese President Xi Jinping told the meeting that there is little to fear from closer trade ties.
"We should push for an open world economy, promote trade liberalisation and facilitation, jointly create a new global value chain, and realise a global economic rebalancing," President Xi Jinping told Brics business leaders and senior officials in a speech on Sunday.
"The development of emerging markets and developing countries won't touch anyone's cheese, but instead will diligently grow the world economic pie," he said.
But many countries have criticised China's trade policies, saying they discriminate against foreign businesses.
Even within Brics, trade is heavily tilted in China's favour, which has led to complaints from fellow members.
China's vice minister of commerce, Wang Shouwen, also suggested China was interested in establishing a free trade agreement with Mexico.
The Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto is attending the dialogue at the invitation of the Chinese president.
2. One Belt One Road
The sheer scale of China's massive international infrastructure project - known as One Belt One Road - means it is often on the agenda at high level economic meetings like this one.
The project aims to expand trade links between Asia, Africa, Europe and beyond through infrastructure investments.
"I am convinced that the Belt and Road initiative will serve as a new platform for all countries to achieve win-win cooperation," said President Xi.
But the initiative has made India in particular quite uneasy, as it includes projects worth $62bn (£48bn) to be implemented in its neighbour and rival Pakistan.
Also, tensions between China and India remain high after a border standoff, which was resolved just days before the conference.
President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a galleryImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image caption
President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin visit an exhibition ahead of the BRICS Summit
3. The New Development Bank
Construction began over the weekend on headquarters in Shanghai for the New Development Bank (NDB), which is the Brics alternative to the World Bank.
The NDB was seen as the first major Brics achievement after the group came together to press for a bigger say in the world's financial affairs.
The bank aims to address a massive infrastructure funding gap in the member countries, which account for almost half the world's population.
To date, the NDB has invested in 11 projects, lending $1.5bn in 2016 with an additional $2.5bn in loans set for this year.
Still, the bank is small potatoes when compared with the World Bank, and some have questioned China's commitment, given it heads up the bigger Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
4. The nuclear elephant in the room
The conference had an unwelcome surprise in the form of North Korea's sixth nuclear test on Sunday.
China's official Xinhua news agency reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin met on the sidelines of the Brics meeting, and agreed to "appropriately deal" with North Korea's nuclear test.
China said it strongly condemned the nuclear test and urged Pyongyang to stop its "wrong" actions.
The US President suggested on Twitter that the US might stop "all trade with any country doing business with North Korea".

China is an obvious target of his comments, given that it is North Korea's largest trading partner.
Some critics, however, have suggested that this is very unlikely, as it would do significant damage to the US economy because China is also America's largest trading partner.

Expo to boost trade and investment ties www.chinadaily.com

The China-Northeast Asia Expo will help to boost trade and stimulate investment through the promotion of regional economic integration, according to officials from Northeast Asian countries.

This year's expo runs from Sept 1 to 5 in Changchun, the capital of Jilin province in Northeast China.

The expo will "have important implications for the countries in the region to introduce their own policies and practices, exchange information and inform the direction of future cooperation", said Zanimah Saulu, Mongolian vice-minister of food agriculture and light industry, at the opening ceremony.

Expo to boost trade and investment ties

Northeast Asia consists of China, Russia, Mongolia, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea and Japan, a market with a population of 1.7 billion and over 20 percent of the world's GDP.

The region boasts favorable transport conditions, covering a vast area with rich human resources, fossil fuels, and forest and marine resources.

A senior Chinese official said: "Although China has run a trade deficit with several countries in the region, we do not engage in trade protection and we are willing to further expand our imports from these economies to meet diversified needs."

China is also ready to sign high-standard trade agreements with all parties, said the official, when delivering his speech at the opening ceremony.

All parties in this region should explore opportunities for collaboration in sectors such as the internet, high-end and intelligent manufacturing, and modern services, said Qian Keming, vice-minister of commerce.

Thanks to its unique geographical location and market potential, Northeast Asia is considered one of the most attractive areas for linking states around the world and strengthening their cooperation and investments, according to Ku Ponthae, vice-foreign economic minister of the DPRK.

In 2016, the trade volume between China and the other five countries of Northeast Asia amounted to $605.9 billion, accounting for 16.4 percent of China's overall foreign trade, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.

In the same year, these five countries' combined investment in China reached about $7.85 billion, with China's total investment in the above countries also maintaining growth.

Kang Sung-cheon, deputy minister of the ROK's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said, "Northeast Asian countries will diversify their trade and will also boost trade in services in the interests of mutual benefits." The Chinese government has recently announced moves to encourage foreign investment, reduce investment restraints and streamline investment procedures.

It is hoped that all countries will make efforts to further promote their investments, Kang said.

"A free trade agreement is a good idea. It can significantly reduce tariffs, promote free trade and stabilize investment trends."

Contact the writers at jingshuiyu@chinadaily.com.cn and hanjunhong@chinadaily.com.cn

Moody's: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to sustain strong credit profile www.moodys.com

Singapore, September 04, 2017 -- Moody's Investors Service says that the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank's (AIIB, Aaa stable) credit profile is underpinned by robust capital adequacy, a strong governance framework, and solid shareholder support, notwithstanding the absence of a lengthy track record of operations.