Chinese smartphone manufacturer, Xiaomi announces its latest flagship and addition to its high demand Mi4 family with the new Mi4c. The company has been able to keep with its theme of producing an affordable smartphone with high spec. The Mi4c according to some reviewers comes with a spec similar likes the Google Nexus 5X but with cheaper price tag.
China
China's economy posts weakest growth in six years
China's economy grows at its slowest pace in more than six years in the third quarter. Gross domestic product between July and September expanded 6.9% from a year ago, its weakest since the first quarter of 2009. While that is better than the forecasted 6.7% growth, it is lower than the 7% recorded in the first two quarters.
China cloaks weakest growth since 2009
The world's second largest economy witnessed its lowest growth rate in the last two decades. China's gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate dipped below seven percent during the third quarter for the first time after the financial crisis. A record of 6.9 percent, below the Chinese government's target of seven percent and slightly better than the forecasted 6.8 percent. This is translating into more pressure on the Chinese government to lower interest rates and some measures to strengthen the growth rate.
Huawei to invest $1bn in ICT; keen on graphene applications
Chinese mobile maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd has decided to invest $1billion on information and communication technology (ICT) development over the next five years. Huawei will work closely with Britain in the development of technology applications in the telecommunications segment.
Apple disabled News app in China
Many iPhone users are surprised when they could not access Apple News app in mainland China when they were able to use it in many places around the world. Granted that the said app is being tested in the United Kingdom and Australia, still the app is prevented by Chinese censorship from being activated.
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There's good news in a form of startups for China, which is reeling under the pressure of the slowdown in the economy. Giving much breath to China, over 10,000 startup firms are to take off every day. The majority are small enterprises.
The Panda bond market in China is expected to surpass $50-billion mark in next five years. International Finance Corporation (IFC) is planning to sell bonds in Yuan-denominated from this year onwards.
At a time when, Chinese currency Yuan seems to be stabilizing in the foreign exchange (forex) market, the indications from the government about imposing a Tobin tax, a punitive levy, on forex transactions aimed at reducing trading in currency. After the unexpected devaluation of Yuan by 1.9 percent on 11 August, the Chinese currency fell further and recently started coming back into stabilization mode.At a time when, Chinese currency Yuan seems to be stabilizing in the foreign exchange (forex) market, the indications from the government about imposing a Tobin tax, a punitive levy, on forex transactions aimed at reducing trading in currency. After the unexpected devaluation of Yuan by 1.9 percent on 11 August, the Chinese currency fell further and recently started coming back into stabilization mode.
The lack of clarity about the US data and timing of interest rate hike have put further pressure on Asian stock markets. Several Asian stocks slipped into pressure on Friday trading ahead of the US data jobs report. Japan's Nikkei fell 1.7 percent for the week. The long holiday stretch for Chinese markets also resulted in sluggishness in the Asian market.
Apple finally announced the launching of Apple Music to Chinese customers. The app comes with a three-month trial. After that, 10 Chinese yuan per month will be charged. iTunes, iBooks, and Movies were also made available.
The China's Commerce Ministry has slapped a fine on a joint venture (JV) between Microsoft Corporation and its Chinese partner BesTV in Xbox game console venture for breaking antitrust laws. However, the Redmond-based global IT major has escaped from a major penalty as the investigation didn't find any major fault on the part of Microsoft over market competition rules. The investigation on Xbox marketing drive revealed that Microsoft didn't obstruct the free market competition. The Chinese Commerce Ministry has imposed a penalty of Yuan 200,000 ($31,430) on Microsoft JV firm in China.
The Chinese manufacturing sector registered its worst performance in the past 78 months. The measure of sentiment among purchasing managers, Preliminary Caixin China manufacturing index (PMI) dropped to 47 in September from 47.3 in August.
China e-commerce industry is worth $2.1 trillion in 2014 with the number of users growing by 31.4 percent as reported by China E-Commerce Research Center (CERC). Out of the total amount, $450 billion comes from the online retail business alone. Current market players in the e-commerce are Alibaba, JD.com, and Suning Commerce.
The china's economy slowdown is likely to continue for next three years, predict real-estate developers. The robust growth has led cities to emerge as major infrastructure built up ones. There's opportunity in smaller cities though they can't offer the kind of growth witnessed in cities like Beijing and Shanghai.
