The first project between China and the countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, the Lianyungang logistics terminal has imported and exported 7.77 million metric tons of goods since it went into operation in 2014.

Goods imported and exported from January to July this year increased by 49 percent over the same period last year, according to the center.

Wang Qinmin, vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and president of the All China Federation of Industry and Commerce, said China and Kazakhstan have paid great attention to bilateral relations, deepened political trust and expanded cooperation in many areas since they forged diplomatic ties 25 years ago.

Wang made the speech at the fifth China-Central Asia Cooperation Forum, which was held on Wednesday and Thursday in Lianyungang. More than 200 officials from China and Central Asia, including Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, attended the forum.

President Xi Jinping first proposed the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013. It comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, with the aim of building a trade and infrastructure network that connects Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes.

The Lianyungang logistics terminal started construction soon after the proposal emerged, with investment in the first phase reaching 606 million yuan ($90.2 million).

"The Kazakhstan partners didn't expect that the construction could be finished in eight months," said Liu Bin, general manager of the logistics terminal. "They thought at least two to three years were needed, considering the mountainous environment.

"The logistics terminal started to make a profit the same year it started operations. It serves companies of the two countries well."

Su Yang, manager of the terminal's production business department, said freight trains running from Khorgos, a city in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region near the border with Kazakhstan, to Almaty now take just six days.

"It used to take 12 days to transport good between the two cities. With the joint effort of the two countries, the transportation time and costs have been greatly reduced," he said. "The freight trains between Lianyungang, Khorgos and Asian and European countries will benefit the economy, especially companies along the route."

Last year, more than 1,200 trains transited through Kazakhstan, with rail freight for the two countries reaching 8.2 million tons.

China and Kazakhstan have agreed to develop more international freight train services, starting from China and going via Kazakhstan to Central Asia, Europe and Gulf countries, making rail freight a major solution to trade between Asia and Europe by 2025.

G.Shiilegdamba was arrested on corruption charges in November, 2015. The Independent Agency against Corruption (IAAC) actually managed to catch former Minister and Secretary-General of Mongolian People’s Party G.Shiilegdamba accepting a bribe of nearly 500 million MNT in his office and immediately arrested him on corruption charges.

Please review more on https://www.mongolbank.mn/…/externalsector/tra…/2017/06e.pdf

That is the largest equity investment in such lenders outside of China so far, according to data provider CB Insights.

The Atlanta-based startup, which operates in North America and Europe, will use the cash to add lending products and other types of financial services, it said in a statement.

Kabbage plans to launch in Asia within the next 18 months, co-founder and Chief Executive Rob Frohwein said in an interview. "We believe that our system can be deployed rapidly on an international basis."

He declined to disclose Kabbage's new financial services.

Kabbage is among a group of young companies that use digital technologies to lower lending costs and offer credit faster than brick-and-mortar institutions.

Founded in 2009, Kabbage sells its technology to large banks to provide credit online, and has provided nearly $3.5 billion in funding to small businesses. Its technology powers automated lending for banks Banco Santander SA (SAN.MC), ING Groep NV (INGA.AS) and Scotiabank (BNS.TO).

SoftBank, led by Chief Executive Masayoshi Son, has become a prolific global investor in technology startups. In 2015 it invested $1 billion in San Francisco-based online student lender Social Finance, known as SoFi.

While online lending is expanding, the sector has faced growing pains, including softer institutional investor demand due to concerns about loan quality.

This has made it harder for such lenders to raise funding, leading analysts and market participants to suggest the sector might be headed for consolidation.

In March Reuters reported that Kabbage was looking to raise a new round of equity funding for potential consolidation, with listed competitor On Deck being one of its acquisition targets.

Kabbage has no "specific plan" to buy On Deck, Frohwein said. "We look at all sorts of opportunities, but it needs to be in spaces that are not similar or overlapping with what we do."

The last winter was a very harsh one in Mongolia following an especially dry summer - decimating tens of thousands of head of livestock, this is a weather pattern unique to the country and known locally as a 'dzud'. The Mongolian Meteorology Centre has warned that Mongolia is facing another harsh winter.

The coin has a millesimal fineness of 999, diameter of 38.61 mm and will be sold at MNT 300 thousand. With an aim to protect and promote the critically endangered “Mazaalai” bear to the world, the Bank of Mongolia is collecting the coin in frames of social responsibility and is offering it to the coin collectors around the world.

Listed on Mongolian Red Book of Endangered Species, the population of Mazaalai included only 15-20 adults in 1960-1970 and 25-30 in 1980. According to the recent research, less than 30 Mazaalai bears are left. The low population of Gobi bears is explained by the deprivation of their main source of food as they mainly eat roots, berries and other plants, as well as rodents sometimes. Although scientists grew substitute plants, Gobi bears refuse to eat human-made food.

The pound’s positive reaction to better-than-expected data on the UK service sector was cooled by the regulator’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged.

Sterling was trading at just €1.106 versus the euro as of 2:50pm GMT, down from the €1.20 mark.

The pullback came after the BOE's Monetary Policy Committee voted 6-2 in favor of keeping interest rates at record lows of 1.25 percent and revised down its growth and inflation forecasts.

"The 6-2 vote was as expected. However, the dovish growth and inflation (forecasts were) a surprise to the markets," Neil Jones, Mizuho's head of hedge fund FX sales, told Reuters.

The BOE has revised down its 2017 growth projections, to 1.7 percent from 1.9 percent in May, saying the UK economy will remain “sluggish.”

Growth is expected to slow to 1.6 percent in 2018, down from a previous forecast 1.9 percent.

Asset purchase programs were left unchanged, and the bank lending scheme was announced to end on schedule in February 2018.

The BOE’s governor Mark Carney has warned Britain is beginning to adjust to a ‘new and uncertain’ relationship with the European Union. The bank cannot prevent the “weaker real incomes” which this new trading relationship is likely to bring, Carney said.

"Ongoing concerns around Brexit combined with questions about wage growth (will) hit the pound hard," said David Lamb, head of dealing at FEXCO Corporate Payments. "The chances of a 2017 rate hike now look dead and buried," he added.

Earlier, a purchasing managers' index (PMI) survey showed the UK’s service sector grew at a faster pace in July than analysts forecast which came as a relief to those worried about Britain’s economic slowdown.

The office of Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga announced the appointment on Thursday. It said former grand champion Asashoryu is tasked with strengthening bilateral ties through sports and cultural exchanges during his one-year term.

During the presidential election campaign earlier this year, Asashoryu uploaded many videos on Facebook in support of Battulga of the Democratic Party.

The videos are believed to have garnered support mainly from young voters and helped Battulga win the presidency.

Asashoryu is currently a businessman in Mongolia, running a bank. He is also an executive member of the Democratic Party's local branch.

Analysts say the appointment may be interpreted as some sort of reward for Asashoryu's political activities.

The South African miner, with operations from Australia to Peru, said the deal involves A$12 million in cash and A$130 million in Red 5 shares.

The sale of Darlot, acquired by Gold Fields in 2013, is expected to close at the end of September, the company said.

Red 5 is also acquiring Saracen Mineral Holdings' (ASX:SAR) King of the Hills mine, in Western Australia.

Managing director Mark Williams said the deals marked the beginning of a new chapter for the company.

“We have entered into binding agreements to acquire two significant Western Australian gold assets which, together, establish the foundations for a long-term consolidation and growth strategy in one of Australia’s most prolific and active gold districts, the Leonora-Leinster region of WA," he said in the statement.

“The cornerstone of this strategy is the proposed acquisition of the Darlot gold mine from Gold Fields — a transaction which allows the group to transition immediately back into gold production at a well established gold mine in Australia where we can leverage our operational experience and capabilities.”

The Red 5 group also owns the currently shutter Siana gold project and Mapawa, located 20 km north of Siana, both in the Philippines.