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GOVT AND POLICIES

Xinjiang's foreign trade up in first 10 months

China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region recorded around 131.5 billion yuan ($18.7 billion) in imports and exports in the first 10 months of this year, up 28 percent year-on-year, local authorities said. The autonomous region's export volume during the period was 100.2 billion yuan, up 19.9 percent, while its import volume soared to 31.3 billion yuan, up 63.1 percent, according to the customs authorities of Urumqi, the regional capital. In the first 10 months, Kazakhstan topped the list of Xinjiang's major trade partners, with trade volume between the two growing by 28.2 percent to 60.2 billion yuan.

COMPANIES AND MARKETS

Eyewear brand seeks bigger China presence

Global fashion eyewear brand Gentle Monster is expecting a bigger presence in the Chinese mainland market by opening more stores and seeking various partnerships. The brand, headquartered in South Korea, will soon open its 10th flagship store in the Chinese market in downtown Beijing's new high-end department store SKP-S. The two sides have worked together to turn SKP-S into a futuristic retail space with fashionable designs, artistic exhibits and high-tech services, aiming to offer fresh shopping experiences. The sunglasses and optical glasses brand, established in 2011, opened nine flagship stores across China by the end of November. Six or seven new flagship stores were expected in 2020, according to the company's founder and CEO Hankook Kim.

Qualcomm unveils new 5G mobile platforms

US leading chip manufacturer Qualcomm unveiled two new 5G Snapdragon mobile platforms at its annual tech summit that opened in Maui, Hawaii, on Tuesday. Alex Katouzian, senior vice-president and general manager of the Mobile Business Unit at Qualcomm Technologies Inc, introduced the two new platforms to hundreds of participants. The Snapdragon 865 Mobile Platform, which includes the Snapdragon X55 Modem-RF System, is a global 5G platform designed to deliver unmatched connectivity and performance for the next generation of devices, he said. And the Snapdragon 765/765G bring integrated 5G connectivity, Artificial Intelligence (AI) processing and select Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite Gaming experiences, Katouzian said.

India's OnMobile teams up with Samsung

India's OnMobile has collaborated with smartphone brand Samsung to manage the latter's contests, ecosystems and ensure a rewarding experience to the smartphone's app users in the country, a company statement said on Wednesday. "Our collaboration with Samsung to build and manage its contests ecosystem reiterates the trust and credibility we have built over the years among our partners in India," said Sanjay Bhambri, OnMobile Global Ltd's president and chief operating officer. With over 20 million users in India, Samsung My Galaxy app offers a unique all-in-one experience including videos, music, games, news and personalized offers and updates.

Nokia names Baldauf as new board chairman

Finnish telecoms equipment maker Nokia has announced that Sari Baldauf would succeed Risto Siilasmaa as board chairman in April. Baldauf was in charge of Nokia networks during its glorious years from 1998 to 2005, and joined Nokia's board as a non-executive director in 2018. She also served in companies such as Daimler, Deutsche Telecom and Finnish utility Fortum. Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri and his team are working hard both to address the short-term issues and strengthen Nokia's longer-term value drivers, Baldauf said in a statement.

AROUND THE WORLD

UK service PMI drops in November

British service sector activity in November dropped into contraction territory amid domestic political uncertainty, according to a survey published on Wednesday by IHS Markit/CIPS, a London-based global information provider. IHS Markit/CIPS statistics showed that the seasonally adjusted service Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) stood at 49.3 in November, down from 50.0 in October, slipping below the 50.0 no-change benchmark. "Domestic political uncertainty once again led to cautious business and consumer spending," said the survey.

NZ to increase banks' capital requirements

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand released its final decisions to increase banks' capital requirements on Thursday. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Adrian Orr said the decisions are about making the banking system safer for all New Zealanders, and will ensure bank owners have a meaningful stake in their businesses. The changes will be implemented over seven years, giving plenty of time for banks to manage a smooth transition and minimize any adjustment costs. "Our decisions are not just about dollars and cents. More capital in the banking system better enables banks to weather economic volatility and maintain good, long-term, customer outcomes," Orr said.

Capital adequacy ratio of lenders improves

South Korean banks' capital adequacy ratio inched up to 15.4 percent in the third quarter, financial watchdog data showed on Wednesday. The capital adequacy ratio of 19 local commercial and state-run banks averaged 15.40 percent under the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) framework as of the end of September, up 0.05 percentage point from three months earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). The ratio, a barometer of financial healthiness, measures the proportion of a bank's capital to its risk-weight assets. Banks are required by the BIS to maintain the ratio above 8 percent.

Japanese vehicle sales continue downtrend

Japanese vehicle sales in South Korea kept a halving trend last month amid the continuing campaign to boycott Japanese products and tours to Japan, industry data showed on Wednesday. The number of Japanese cars sold in November was 2,357, down 56.4 percent from the same month of 2018, according to the Korea Automobile Importers& Distributors Association (KAIDA). The Japanese vehicle sales began to fall sharply in July when Japan tightened control over its exports to South Korea of three materials, vital to make memory chips and display panels that are the mainstay of the South Korean exports.

Malaysia's exports fall by 6.7% in October

Malaysia's exports contracted by 6.7 percent year-on-year to 97.59 billion ringgit ($22.86 billion) in October as shipments for all sectors fell, official data showed on Wednesday. According to its Ministry of International Trade and Industry, exports of manufactured goods contracted by 4.5 percent, with exports of mining goods and agriculture goods declining by 24.6 and 8.9 percent respectively. Meanwhile, the total trade in October decreased by 7.6 percent year-on-year to 163.86 billion ringgit. Imports also declined by 8.7 percent to 73.27 billion ringgit. Trade surplus, therefore, rose 2.8 percent year-on-year to 17.33 billion ringgit.

Mongolia mortgage loans benefit 95,000

Mongolia has provided housing mortgages to 95,000 borrowers since 2013, a senior official of the Mongolian Mortgage Corp (MIC) said. The Mongolian government started implementing a mortgage loan program in 2013 to increase the afford-ability and accessibility of apartments for urban residents. "Providing housing mortgages at a rate of 8 percent is also part of the government's efforts to reduce air pollution in the country, especially in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar," Zorig Munkh-Orgil, first deputy CEO of the MIC, said at a workshop on air pollution and housing. "A total of 95,000 borrowers have benefited from the housing program. Over 90 percent of them are residents of Ulaanbaatar," she said.