What's news

GOVT AND POLICIES

Central bank injects $28.57b into market

China's central bank pumped 200 billion yuan ($28.57 billion) into the financial system on Wednesday, after a suspension of reverse repos that lasted for 20 straight trading days. The People's Bank of China injected 50 billion yuan into the market through seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 2.5 percent, and conducted 150 billion yuan of 14-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 2.65 percent. With no reverse repos maturing Wednesday, this led to a net injection of 200 billion yuan.

COMPANIES AND MARKETS

Samsung's Shaanxi chip project to start output

The second phase of Samsung's chip plant in Northwest China's Shaanxi province, with a total investment of $15 billion, will start mass production in 2020, according to Samsung China Semiconductor Co Ltd. The first part of the second phase in Xi'an, with an investment of $7 billion, is expected to be completed and put into operation next March. The second part is scheduled to be finished in the second half of 2021, according to the company. Samsung signed an agreement with the Shaanxi provincial government in 2017 to start the second phase of the chip plant to expand chip production capacity.

NEEQ reforms getting finishing touches

Measures to reform China's National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ), or the "new third board," are expected to be implemented in the first half of 2020, officials said. The government has finished soliciting public opinion on revised rules regarding the NEEQ reform and is expected to release them soon, with measures that allow companies to be listed and enter the best-performing group on the NEEQ scheduled to come into effect in the first half of next year, said Sui Qiang, vice-general manager of the NEEQ. The China Securities Regulatory Commission announced the major reform measures in late October to better orient the NEEQ to the needs and features of small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and support high-quality growth of the real economy.

German firms focus on new cancer drugs

German pharmaceutical companies launched 25 new drugs, including 10 against cancer in 2019, the association of research-based pharmaceutical companies announced. As in previous years, a "particularly large number" of new drugs was introduced against various types of cancer, according to the association, whose members represent around two thirds of the German pharmaceutical market and employ nearly 80,000 people in Germany. For the first time, a drug for the treatment of any type of tumor with a specific gene mutation, regardless of the affected organ, had been approved, the association noted.

Whirlpool recalls some washing machines

Around 500,000 Hotpoint and Indesit washing machines will be recalled over potential fire risks, British media reported on Tuesday. According to the media reports, manufacturer Whirlpool announced the recall on Tuesday, saying as many as 519,000 of the models sold in the United Kingdom between October 2014 and February 2018 could be affected by a flaw with the door-locking system that could cause overheat and fire. Customers bought a Hotpoint or Indesit appliance during the period are urged to contact Whirlpool to find out if they are affected. Owners are also asked to unplug and stop using the machines immediately.

AROUND THE WORLD

148m US buyers to shop on Super Saturday

An estimated 147.8 million US consumers are expected to participate in shopping on Super Saturday, the Saturday before Christmas, according to the annual survey released on Tuesday by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics. "The last Saturday before Christmas has become the biggest shopping day of the year, and we expect an impressive turnout by procrastinators and those who just want to take advantage of really good deals," NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement. The number of people shopping on Super Saturday includes both in-store and online activity and is up 10 percent from last year, the survey showed.

Brazil's economy set to gain momentum

Brazil's economy has gained momentum and will pick up speed over the coming months, the Central Bank of Brazil's Monetary Policy Committee said on Tuesday. "The following quarters will see a certain acceleration," the committee said, noting one contributing factor was its Dec 11 decision to reduce the annual benchmark interest rate by 0.5 percentage point, to 4.5 percent. Brazil's industrial sector also struck an optimistic note on the economy, forecasting a 2.5-percent expansion in gross domestic product in 2020, following a 1.2 percent growth in GDP in 2019.

Income inequality falls to record low in S. Korea

Income inequality in South Korea hit a record low last year on the government's income-led economic policy to bolster earnings of the low-income bracket, joint government data showed on Tuesday. The Gini coefficient, also called the Gini index, stood at 0.345 in 2018, down 0.009 from the previous year, according to joint data from Statistics Korea, the Bank of Korea (BOK) and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). It was the lowest since relevant data began to be compiled in 2011. The ratio, used as the measurement of income or wealth inequality, represents a complete equality with zero and a complete inequality with one.

Cuba to see 0.5% GDP growth this year

Cuba's gross domestic product will see a growth of 0.5 percent in 2019, the country's Economy Minister Alejandro Gil said on Tuesday. Speaking to legislators, Gil said the country's economy this year has suffered from global economic uncertainty and additional economic and financial sanctions imposed by the United States. Washington's latest sanctions have hurt oil supplies to Cuba, leading officials to take special measures to deal with shortages. The tourism sector, a main revenue generator for the island country, was severely impacted by US restrictions on cruise ships, pleasure boats and private aircraft with routes from the

United States to Cuba.

Portugal central bank maintains growth target

The Bank of Portugal maintained its forecast of 2 percent GDP growth for Portugal this year, according to December Economic Bulletin released on Tuesday. The bank also upgraded its forecast for the GDP growth in 2020 from 1.6 percent to 1.7 percent. "For 2020, the projection for GDP growth was revised slightly upward from the June Bulletin, which is due to higher growth in private and public consumption," noted the December Economic Bulletin.

Agricultural production, tourism to buoy Morocco

Morocco's central bank said on Tuesday that the North African country's GDP would expand by 3.8 percent in 2020 and by 3.7 percent in 2021. Morocco's GDP will stand at 2.6 percent in 2019, against 3 percent in 2018, the Central Bank said in a report following the last quarterly meeting of its board for 2019. Morocco's economic growth reached 3 percent in 2018, supported by robust agricultural production and tourism.