Xi Jinping in Davos: “No one will emerge as a winner in a trade war.” January 17, 2017 Chinese president Xi Jinping used his first appearance at the World Economic Forum to mount a robust defence of globalisation. “It is the result of growing social productivity and is the natural outcome of scientific and technological advances”, Xi said in the forum’s Opening Plenary. “It is not something created by any individuals or any [...]
Oxfam is wrong to imply free markets make the rich richer at the poor’s expense January 17, 2017 Every year Oxfam releases statistics comparing the wealth of the global poor and the global rich, showing a stunning, often widening, gap between the two. They heavily imply that the poor are getting poorer while the rich are getting richer – but only half of this is correct. The lot of the world’s worst off [...]
Burundi rare earth miner Rainbow Rare Earths dusts itself off for London flotation January 15, 2017 A Burundi-based miner with one of the world’s highest grade rare earth deposits is dusting itself off for a London Stock Exchange listing. Rainbow Rare Earths plans to float on the main market in the coming weeks, under the ticker "RBW", and wants to raise $7m (£5.7m) to bring its "low-risk, low-cost" Gakara project into production [...]
Davos gathering looks to address Trump and Brexit January 15, 2017 Prime minister Theresa May, Chinese president Xi Jinping, US vice president Joe Biden and US secretary of state John Kerry will be among the 3,000 businessmen, politicians and celebrities at the annual World Economic Forum this week. This year, the organisers of the four day event in Switzerland have chosen “responsive and responsible leadership” as the theme [...]
“Brexit tourists” from Hong Kong, China and UAE spent millions on British high streets this Christmas January 13, 2017 Tourist spending is expected to hit a record high this year, but figures to be published today show the weak pound has already given the UK economy a significant boost. So-called "Brexit tourists" took advantage of the pound's slump by spending more than £725m on British high streets in December, the data shows. Payment processor Worldpay analysed transaction data [...]
Imperial Brands lights up a joint venture deal with China Tobacco to expand into the world’s number one cigarette market January 11, 2017 Imperial Brands has made a move on the world’s largest cigarette market through a joint venture with state-owned China National Tobacco (CNTC). Shares in Imperial, the world’s fourth-largest tobacco company, shot up more than three per cent after the announcement, before closing up 0.95 per cent to 3,626.50p. CNTC has a hold on more than [...]
Green bond supply will stagnate in 2017 with no repeat of Chinese expansion January 11, 2017 The rapid increase in green investment bonds will grind to a halt in 2017 as Chinese issuers abstain from providing bumper supply to the market. The amount of green investment bonds issued globally in 2016 doubled to $90m, but such an increase will not be replicated this year, an HSBC research paper outlined. Read more: Government comes under fire for [...]
The price of Bitcoin has just fallen off a cliff after China said it is “monitoring” exchanges January 11, 2017 The price of bitcoin fell sharply today, after it emerged China's central bank is moving to "closely monitor" local bitcoin exchange businesses. The cryptocurrency fell as low as $784.56 in lunchtime trading, before settling just above $800, 10.7 per cent down. The People's Bank of China published a statement this morning saying it had formed a joint [...]
Hotels continue to be a favourable option for investors looking to the UK January 11, 2017 As the UK’s most popular tourist destination after London, Edinburgh plays a vital role in the UK tourism economy. Its preeminent position was underlined recently when Deloitte – for a third year running – named Scotland’s capital the UK’s most attractive location for hotel investment outside London. The figures certainly stack-up. The city achieves some [...]
Brexit uncertainty could drag on Europe’s economy says the World Bank as it forecasts a big slowdown in the UK economy January 10, 2017 Brexit uncertainty could drag down growth prospects across Europe according to the World Bank, as it forecasts a sharp slowdown in UK growth this year. UK GDP growth is predicted to fall from two per cent last year to 1.2 per cent in 2017, the World Bank’s twice-yearly Global Economic Prospects report has found. In [...]